One Last Summer
by Cat catches Bird
Summary: [SessKag] Kagome has found the perfect job. The only problem is the tall, handsome, Sesshomaru Taishou might distract her, just a bit...
1. The Job

One Last Summer

Chapter One

_9:34 A.M, Thursday, May Eleventh. (Shore-Side Condo's)_

A raven-haired head appeared from under the jumble as blankets as her annoying alarm clock rang repeatedly. Each time it rang, a searing pain hit her head and temporarily blinded the girl. Her thin fingers reached out from under another blanket, and hit the sleep button on the alarm clock. It stopped, and she drifted off to sleep again.

Only to wake up, ten minutes later. The alarm clock rang again, blaring a noisy beeping noise in her sensitive ear. The sleep button wouldn't work this time, no. No matter how hard she pressed on it, even when the girl resorted to hitting it with her fist, it would not stop. Which led to one last option.

The loud beeping immediately stopped when said offending alarm clock smashed into a wall, breaking into hundreds of small pieces. It fell to the ground, broken and quiet, just as she had wanted it to. The two standing in the doorway sighed. That had been the third alarm clock to smash into the wall that month, every time the same wall, the same exact spot.

Just as the girl lying in the oversized bed was about to drift back into the land of dream world for the second time this morning, a cold cup of water was poured on her head. The freezing liquid seeped through the thick mass of blankets, and as she jumped out from under her cozy enclosure of covers, the brisk air from the air-conditioner chilled her skin.

"About time you got up, we were worried we'd have to resort to bringing in Kouga." The taller of the two in the doorway said, her hands placed on her hips. The girl standing beside the bed, soaking wet, mumbled.

"What was that?" The second girl in the doorway asked, her chocolate brown eyes narrowing.

"I said, there's no point in waking up today. I'll just find another job –"

"Which is what we want you to do!"

"I wasn't finished. I'll just find another job to get fired from." The girl said, her shoulders drooping dejectedly. The other two girls sighed sadly, and rushed over to drape their arms around the younger, wet girl in a hug. A small tear slipped out of her eye, but she brushed it off instantly, angered with herself for giving in so easily.

"No! We'll find you the perfect job, don't worry!" The chocolate brown-eyed girl cried, her arms practically squeezing the air out of the younger girl.

"Yes. We promise you, we'll make sure that you get the perfect job, even if it kills us. Hey, along the way, why don't we search for your perfect man? Sango and I have the day off to do whatever we want." The tallest, and oldest of the girls said, as she dropped her arms to her sides and smiled at the younger girl.

"I guess…" the younger girl sighed, and shook off the now identified Sango's tight embrace.

"Go take a shower, and dress up for a day out! Maybe we'll meet the boys at the mall later on!" Sango exclaimed, and she complied. She walked to the bathroom, and closed the door.

Shedding all of her clothing, the girl stared at her reflection in the floor-length mirror. Her dark, raven hair went to her waste, tinted with cerulean blue in the sunlight that seeped through the small window to her right. She sighed once again, and climbed into the shower, turning the water on, and let the cool water wash over her body.

'_Snap out of it, Kagome. You'll be fine, just as long as Sango and Kikyo are there to help you through._' She encouraged herself, running her fingers through her hair, cleansing her scalp with the shampoo.

'_You'll be fine. Life will be great, once you have found the perfect job!_' Her supportive side seemed a little too happy for the morning. Especially the morning that day after you got fired from your job.

"So unfair. I had beat my own record! Five months of working at the same place!" Kagome sputtered as the water from the shower slipped into her mouth, leaving the horrid taste of shampoo as she spit it out.

'_That's not that long, compared to anyone else._' Another side spoke, dispiriting Kagome.

"Yeah, well shut up. I wouldn't be complaining, because you are me. Wait…" She gasped again as water dripped down her throat, once again refreshing her with the revolting taste of shampoo.

A knock on the bathroom door alerted the girl out of her thoughts, and she stepped back a step, only to find the soap under her foot. She slipped, as her feet were knocked out from under her, and her bottom crashed painfully onto the hard base of the bathtub. Another, louder knock on the door, and she moaned as her bottom ached agonizingly.

"Kagome! Hurry up, you've got thirty minutes before we leave!" Sango yelled through the thick white door, unable to hear the grumbling coming from one specific girl, who was currently rubbing her sore bottom.

Pulling herself to her feet, Kagome quickly finished her washing and stepped out of the combined bath and shower, wary of another bar of soap that might have been hiding somewhere on the floor. Relieved when she didn't see one, she rapidly dried herself off, and pulled her hair into a high ponytail that left a few strands framing her pretty face.

Wrapping a towel around her body, she opened the bathroom door and walked towards her room, and shut the door behind her as she entered. Turning around, she yelped at the mess that met her eyes. Sango and Kikyo were currently digging through the younger girl's closet, looking for something suitable for the girl to wear out. Kagome dodged a flying running shoe as it was thrown her way, only just barely.

"Ah ha!" Kikyo cried, and stood up, holding up a pair of short jean shorts that had a black and silver belt looped through the belt loops.

"Got the bottoms? Good. I found the top!" Sango bubbled, standing up as well. She grabbed the shorts out of Kikyo's hands, and tossed them as well as a shirt over in Kagome's direction.

A pair of matching, silk black undergarments followed the outfit, and the two older girls promptly turned around to let the other girl change. While Kagome took her time doing that, the other two searched through the massive pile of clothing again, this time rummaging around for a decent pair of sandals.

"Gah! You guys, I can't wear this!" Kagome proclaimed, motioning towards the outfit that now adorned her body. Sango and Kikyo looked at her, and then at each other, a blank look on their faces the whole time.

"What's wrong with it?" Sango asked, looking the younger girl up and down.

"First of all, these shorts are way too short, they barely reach mid-thigh! And second of all, my stomach is showing!" Kagome argued, referring the shortness of the scoop-neck tank top she wore. Sango sighed and turned back around to find the sandals.

"While I have to agree with you on shortness, Kagome, I must say that you never wear this kind of clothing. You should. It suits you and your personality." Kikyo replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

A successful cry from Sango brought the girl's gazes to the girl that now held up a pair of black flip-flops studded with dark blue rhinestones in one hand, a small purse in the other. She threw both things at Kagome, who caught them easily, and put the flip-flops on her feet, and swung the purse over her shoulder.

"That's our girl! Now cheer up, we're going shopping!" Kikyo grinned as did Sango. Sloppily shoving the mess back into the younger girl's closet they dragged the protesting Kagome out of their condo and down to the parking lot, where Sango's car awaited patiently.

"But _guys_!" Kagome whined as they buckled her into the backseat of the convertible. "You know that I hate showing my belly button!" Kikyo glanced back at her and snorted.

"Yeah, I would hate showing my stomach if it were perfect too." The older girl said, reaching back and poking the small blue-diamond stud that was embedded in Kagome's belly button.

"I don't even know how you convinced me to pierce my belly button, but I sure as heck know that it doesn't appeal to people looking at my job application!" The raven-haired girl sulked as the two up front laughed and turned the radio up higher, blaring out the youngest girl's protests.

Stopping at a red light, Sango swiveled her head to look back at the girl, grinning like the Cheshire cat. "I think Kagome needs a little excitement in her life, don't you agree?" She directed her question towards Kikyo. The older girl nodded. "Yes indeed, Kagome, why don't you experience life the same way you dance?"

All three of them grinned at the thought. "Wild!" They screamed over the music, and Sango speeded up as the light turned green, driving to the nearest mall, way over the speed limit.

Pulling into the parking lot, the three girls hopped over the side of the convertible, with the exception of Kikyo, who was too dignified to do such a thing. '_Yeah right. Any person who thinks her too dignified to do such a thing should have seen her on her birthday party last year… and I have the whole thing on tape!_' Kagome grinned maliciously at the thought of Kikyo, doing the things she had done last month on her birthday.

"Uh oh, Kagome. What are you thinking about now?" If Sango and Kikyo knew anything about their friend, which they did, then they would know that the fierce grin on her face meant that something risky was going on in that strange, thoughtful mind of hers.

Most of the time Kagome was the happy one, the one who could cheer you up in a millisecond. She was the one that planned the surprise parties for your birthday, or had the prefect idea in mind when it came to a boring, stormy night where they couldn't go out. Throughout the past year, though, that happy demeanor had been disappearing more and more every time she was fired from another job.

The young girl tried so very hard to keep her act together, keep her anger in control, or just trying to keep her wild side in tact. Even though she was great at control, her anger always got the best of her when someone insulted her friends, family, or even a coworker, and it always ended up with a fight. Kagome being the winner, most of the time, too.

She was just having a hard time finding the perfect job. Was it realy that hard to find an occupation where she could run around half the day, watch movies all the time, and do the thing Kagome did best? No. There was no job that let her run around, watch movies, or do the thing Kagome did best. Or else, the three of them would have found it already, and Kagome would be the happiest person in the world.

"Alright! Where to first?" Sango asked as they wandered aimlessly around the mall, searching for somewhere to start.

"I think Kagome needs a different swimsuit." Kikyo said slyly, a smirk forming on her lips. Before she could protest once again, the two girls had dragged her off to the swimsuit store, and had shoved her into a dressing room with ten different swimsuits.

"But I don't need a new swim suit! My old one's still in one piece!" She cried through the curtained wall.

"That's the problem. It's a one piece." Kikyo stated as she sat down, avoiding the swim suits that Kagome had decided were either too tight or too revealing, and had thrown them out of the dressing room, hoping to hit one of her two friends; it didn't matter which.

Sango threw another swimsuit over the curtain, and the younger girl yelped as the padded top hit her head.

"Besides. You're Twenty-three, going on Twenty-four! Show some of that perfect skin, our darling Kagome!"

Although they did so rather dejectedly, both older girls had to admit that they were jealous of the perfect-ness of the younger one's body. Kagome had prefect sized everything, not overly large, but not too skinny. She had all the right curves in all the right places, and was tough. Not so muscular that she scared people, but built up enough that there was no flabby place on her body.

While Kikyo thought herself too tall and too skinny, and Sango thought herself too muscular and too curvy, they both watched enviously as Kagome fit into everything perfectly. Although all three got about the same amount of appreciating looks from the male-kind, Sango and Kikyo couldn't help but feel spiteful.

They had a hard enough time trying to keep their men on a leash, Kikyo's being a rude one, and Sango's being a pervert, Kagome just went on through life happily, without even trying to find the perfect man for herself. The younger girl just seemed oblivious to the attention she received, as she acted more interested in the food she was eating than what guys were flirting with her.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang in an annoying, shrilly tune, and Kikyo quietly excused herself, getting a dirty look from the sales clerk as she left the swimsuit store.

"Hello?"

…

"Oh, hey Yasha!"

…

"You can't come? Why?

…

"Well, okay, just take care of yourself, and call me tomorrow."

…

"Yeah, I love you too."

…

"Bye – wait! InuYasha, did you say he's holding interviews tonight?"

…

"Do you mind if the three of us stop by later on tonight?"

…

"See you then." Closing her phone, Kikyo walked back into the store and sat down next to Sango, who was verbally threatening Kagome, trying to get the younger girl out of the dressing room to show them the swimsuit she was currently trying on.

Kagome walked out in a two piece, and Kikyo and Sango whistled and yelled, causing the younger girl to blush, as well as getting them another dirty look from the same sales lady as before. In a blink of an eye Kagome rushed back into the dressing room, agreeing that she would get the swimsuit as long as she wouldn't have to try on another.

While she was busy changing, Sango questioned Kikyo. "So InuYasha called?"

"Yeah. He can't make it because he has to baby-sit Rin, Sesshomaru's adopted daughter. I told him we'd stop by later." Kikyo replied.

"Oh? And why would we do that?" Sango questioned, one dark eyebrow rising in question.

"I think I've found Kagome her perfect dream job."

_8:55 P.M., Thursday, May Eleventh. (Taishou Manor)_

"What are we doing here again?" Kagome asked as the convertible pulled into the large driveway of InuYasha's and Sesshomaru's mansion.

"Look, Kagome. I won't lie to you. Do you remember Sesshomaru, InuYasha's older brother?" Kagome nodded. "And do you remember the young girl Sesshomaru adopted a few years back when he graduated college?" She nodded again.

"Well, Jaken, the Taishou's 'faithful' retainer has the summer off, starting yesterday. It would've been fine, except for the fact that Sesshomaru and InuYasha still have to work sometimes, and there's no one to take care of Rin."

"_And?_" Kagome asked shrilly.

"And… they're hiring a babysitter for Rin! Please don't kill me, it gives good money, and you can do the three things you love! Run around half the day, watch movies, and do what you do best!" Kikyo added quickly, holding her hands in front of her for protection as they entered the house.

"Grr –" Before she could continue, Sango had already pushed her into an office off to the side and shut the door behind her. She stumbled backwards and landed in a large, comfy leather chair that swiveled around until she was dizzy. When it finally stopped, it ended up as the back of her chair to the door, and herself facing the stoic figure that sat on the opposite end of the desk between them.

"Uh… hi." Kagome answered, waving a small hand in greeting.

"Fired from job for beating up the paperboy in defense of a coworker, fired from job for dancing on the conference table, fired from job for just being too… hyper. Give me three good reasons why I should hire you?

"Well, I uh, I like running around with kids the whole day without getting tired, and second I'm, uh, very good at er… having fun? And uh, third, er…"

"She makes the best cookies in the world!" For voices cried from a now open doorway. Turning around, Kagome saw that the people who had helped were Sango and her perverted boyfriend Miroku, and Kikyo and her rude boyfriend InuYasha, there for the rescue. And eager look was on each of their faces as they awaited the reply.

Sesshomaru sighed. "Fine." The four in the doorway cheered.

"Huh?" Kagome asked, confused from all the spinning in the swiveling chair.

"You are Rin's new babysitter! Hi! Rin's name is Rin! What's yours? Are you boring like master Jaken, or fun like Sesshomaru-sama! Will you take Rin to the park, and to the beach, and out for ice cream…" The young, nine-year-old girl rattled on about how many places they could go.

"Rin." Instantly, the young girl stopped her chatter. Turning to Kagome, Sesshomaru spoke. "Yes, you're hired. The job starts tomorrow morning, be here at seven thirty A.M."

With that, he promptly left the now over-crowded office.

* * *

Good enough for ya? A simple, new fic, just because I want to make a SesKag fic.

Yes, it's SesKag, InuKik, and SanMir. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Please review, because once I reach my limit in reviews, I'll update. I promise you'll like it.

Please review and be patient for the next chapter, it will come soon, love, Cat.


	2. The First Day

One Last Summer

Chapter Two

_7:21 A.M, Friday, May Twelfth. (Taishou Manor)_

Pressing her finger to the glowing button, Kagome rang the doorbell of InuYasha and Sesshomaru's house. Well, now she should add it as being _Rin's_ house, too, but it just seemed so strange to think of it any different than the way she had been thinking of it as for two years. She had been over to the mansion many times before, but this was the first time she had ever really gotten to know the young girl.

InuYasha and Kikyo had met in college, as well as Sango and Miroku, and Kagome too. She had been a year younger at the time – she still was now –, because they had all been seniors, when she herself had only been a junior. They had all become quick friends, although some more than others. Miroku had a tendency to grope Sango more than the other women, which was romantic. Sort of…

Kagome had met Sango when she had been in her first year of college, or freshmen. At the private college they had been attending, there was such a thing called 'initiation'. An evil thing, really, but it was tradition for each freshmen girl at the college to be 'branded' by the other older girls of the college.

And by 'branded,' what was really meant was that a burning hot, metal stamp with the school's seal was pressed into your right thigh. Sango had been lucky, transferring to the college into junior year, only because she something bad had happened at her first college. She had saved Kagome from the excruciating pain that the younger girl would have experienced, and had beat up the offending girls.

Of course Kagome practically attached herself to the tough junior, wary of the revenge that those girls wanted to inflict upon her. It had all washed away the next year, when the threat of being 'branded' was over, since now Kagome was an upperclassman. That was the year that the two best friends had met Kikyo.

They had known her from classes – Kagome was super smart, and shared many classes with Sango, although not math –, she was the quiet, shy one. She was always calm, and peaceful, never getting into fights with other classmates as Sango and Kagome often did. She never turned in anything late, always got B's on tests, never anything better or worse than that. Once in a while, though, it was a B+.

One day, though, they had found their passive classmate crying in the snow, lying on the lawns of the college. Several deep wounds were bleeding, tinting the once-white snow to a bloody maroon. Apparently she had been caught by a group of thugs earlier, and brought deep into an alley. She had been so used to being calm, she hadn't thought to panic or even scream out.

Later on the three had agreed – without a doubt – that she had been lucky that the thugs had decided her 'not good enough for a fuck' and just decided to beat her up instead. Fortunately, Kikyo had been able to slowly crawl out of the alley and to the college grounds, where she had lain for two hours before Kagome and Sango had come to the rescue.

For the rest of the year Kikyo had been like Kagome had been her freshmen year, scared to go out alone, and tried to stay out of the dark corners as much as possible. The duo had accepted Kikyo and made their duo a trio, glad to have another person join them. Not that it was boring, just now they had a voice of reason in the group, instead of the tough one, Sango, and the wild one, Kagome.

Being the eldest of the three, Kikyo had taken over the immediate role as 'big sister,' moving in with the other two as time moved on. She made sure they ate right, and didn't stay out too late. And although they were good friends, well the _best_ of friends, Kagome and Sango often got fed up with all of the rules that Kikyo had made, and frequently tried to sneak away from the oldest girl on Friday nights.

That was how InuYasha was introduced to the mix. On Friday nights, Kikyo had set the curfew as one in the morning, but the younger two had thought that incredulous. So they had – without Kikyo's consent – changed it to four, because, after all, it _was_ Friday. One should not expect them home _before_ one in the morning. Their parents would be worried if they did come home before then.

The two had left at nine, leaving a tearful Kikyo waving goodbye. No, she wasn't crying because her 'little sisters' were leaving, it was because her favorite soap opera was on, and the main character had just died… again. She barely noticed the two had left. Of course, though, she noticed as the clock struck two in the morning, and they had not yet returned. For the first time since she had been twelve, Kikyo had panicked.

Doing the only sensible – well, sensible in her panicked state – thing, she had rushed down to the club where Sango and Kagome were, and had ran to the DJ. The DJ, at the time, had been the one and only… InuYasha. Instead of requesting a song, she had requested that he stop the music and say something to the throng of people that wildly danced in the small club.

_"Will Kagome Higurashi and Sango Seishou please GO HOME. YOUR CURFEW WAS AT ONE." The DJ shouted over the loud crowd, and instantly everyone froze._

_"I repeat, WILL KAGOME HIGURASHI AND SANGO SEISHOU PLEASE GO HOME. KIKYO SHIROI IS WORRIED ABOUT YOU, AND REQUESTS THAT YOU IMMEDIATELY GO HOME." Instantly the two turned bright red, and tried to slink away through the crowds, but were caught by the laughing and pointing of the crowd._

They had never truly forgiven Kikyo for that 'special' moment in their lives. Especially when she had then tried to scold the crowd, telling them how it wasn't nice to laugh or point fingers. Later on, they had met InuYasha again at other parties he had been the DJ at, and they had all hit it off.

Miroku had been added next. What a bloody pervert. Being InuYasha's best friend, of course he was the one who had to tag along when the four of them went out to movies, or out to dinner, or even just taking a walk around campus. Secretly, Kagome, Kikyo, and InuYasha had agreed that it was because of Sango. Never before in his life had InuYasha seen Miroku so persistent to grope someone…

One and a half years later, InuYasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kikyo had all graduated, leaving Kagome behind to be the only one of the group left. Besides Kouga, that is. In her senior year at college, Kagome had met her new friend, InuYasha's cousin and sworn enemy, Kouga.

The wolf-like boy had been dancing at party once when he had seen someone knock over a girl, and not apologize. He had sprung into action, and instantly pounded the guy, forcing him to apologize to the girl he had knocked over. Evidently, that girl he had knocked over had been Kagome. After that, the two had become fast friends, Kouga being the one that now protected Kagome from the dangers of senior year.

The other four had checked in on Kagome once in a while, having promised to not leave her behind. Once in a while really meant every other day, though. They had a consistent schedule that every eight days it was their turn to see Kagome, patch up any wholes by bringing some kind of food.

When it was InuYasha's turn to check up on Kagome, that one day, bringing a store-bought chocolate cake, he had practically burst into flames upon seeing Kouga, his hated cousin, eating dinner with his good friend. Being a friend, he had forbid Kagome from seeing Kouga ever again, and being a cousin, he had forbid Kouga from ever seeing Kagome ever again.

Of course, Kouga and Kagome only met up on days that they made sure InuYasha wasn't coming to check up on Kagome.

The day she had graduated college, her friends, family, and everyone else giving their congrats, Kagome was informed that InuYasha and Kikyo had hooked up the day before. And not just 'I like you, and you like me,' either. Apparently it had been a full-out confession of love, to which the pair had agreed upon being better than just friends. In other words, they were now more than just 'friends with benefits'.

The large oak door opened smoothly and soundlessly, and there, standing in the now open doorway, was Sesshomaru, decked out in a suit and tie. He stared down at her from his height of six foot three. His long silver-white hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, his golden eyes glinting in the morning sun.

Shielding her eyes, Kagome looked up at him. "Morning!" She chirped, almost blinding him with the biggest smile – besides Rin's – that he had ever seen.

"Good morning." He drawled, and opened the door wider so she could walk in to the large hall. Down the large, wide, marble staircase bounded Rin, wrapped from head to toe in a fluffy white towel. She stopped at the center of the staircase with wide-eyes and looked at Kagome. Suddenly, she spun around and ran back up the staircase and out of view, until the slamming of a door was heard.

Tears almost appeared in Kagome's eyes. '_Does she hate me?_' She cried mentally, a hand flying to cover her mouth in shock.

'_What's wrong with me! Usually kids love me!_'

Before she could comment, though, the nine-year-old girl leaped back down the staircase, taking two steps at a time, now wearing short jean shorts and a black T-shirt. The same outfit as herself, Kagome noticed, as the young girl attached herself to the older one's leg. A large smile graced Rin's face.

"Hi! Rin wants to be just like Kagome, because Kagome is _so_ cool!" The young girl cried, and grabbed Kagome's hand, releasing her leg. She pulled her to the kitchen, where they sat at a large counter that was up against the windows. The older girl gasped at the incredible view of the ocean, the early-morning sun making the deep blue waters shimmer.

A small path made its way between the shrubbery that separated the house's large, unfenced backyard and the ocean beach. The golden grains of sand looked so nice to dig one's toes in that Kagome was just itching to go down and lay in it, and then roll her way to the ocean waters.

Sesshomaru noticed her starry gaze and smirked. "We go to the beach on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Bring your swimsuits on those days. We go to the park on Mondays, so bring your running shoes. On Wednesdays we go to the mall, so bring your money. On Thursdays we go out on the town, so also bring your money. On Fridays and Sundays we stay home all day, running around the house and such, and go out to dinner later on." Kagome snapped out of her gaze and nodded dumbly.

"Can Kagome nee-chan come to dinner with us, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin pleaded, her eyes glowing with happiness. Sesshomaru looked hesitant for a moment, before sighing in defeat and nodding, while Rin ran around in circles with her arms raised, cheering.

"I have to go to my work. Don't let Rin get into any trouble, and ask a servant for any help if you need it. Good luck." He said, before grabbing his fancy briefcase and walking out of the kitchen.

The two girls heard the distinct sound of the front door closing, and Rin grinned the largest grin known to man. Kagome gazed nervously down at the young girl, and yelped as Rin sped past her with speed that could nearly match a cheetah's. Gathering her balance, the older girl looked around the room in search of the younger one.

"Rin?" She called out attentively, not seeing any sign of the nine-year-old. Sighing, she took off in the direction that she thought the young girl ad zipped off in, turning corner upon corner until her vision was almost spinning.

_4:02 P.M, Friday, May Twelfth. (Taishou Manor)_

It had taken almost an hour for Kagome to find Rin, who had been hiding under the large cushions on the couch in the family room, giggling. The older girl had snuck up on the younger one, and attacked her by tickling her sides until Rin was red with laughter.

They had then gone back to the kitchen for breakfast, and played on the trampoline in the backyard after that until lunch. After lunch the two had watched a movie, one packed with mystery and adventure, and even Kagome liked it, despite the fact that it was for eight-year-olds and up. Hey, she was up, wasn't she?

At exactly four in the afternoon, the two had shared a knowing smirk, and glanced upstairs to where loud snoring was coming from a large bedroom, regardless of the fact that the door was closed. Stealthily, they crawled up the stairs, and towards the room. Kagome had opened the door, and instantly the two shot into the room, and jumped on the lump in the bed.

It had grunted and groaned, until finally screamed – quite girlishly – at the sight of the two girls. It hid under the covers, golden eyes peeking out from under one part of the blanket. It groaned again as Rin jumped up and down on the large mattress, and Kagome shook the sleep out of it.

"Time to wake up!" Rin chirped, landing on her knees next to his head.

"Yeah, Yasha! You've got a job that starts at five, and it's almost four ten… wait… It's four ten! You've got fifty minutes to get up buddy!" Kagome shook his shoulders again, but was pushed away by a strong hand.

InuYasha only grunted in pain as a foot landed itself in his gut, efficiently knocking the breath out of him, as well as _him_ out of the bed. He groaned and pulled himself to his feet, glaring at Kagome and Rin for waking him up. He had gotten home at five that morning, and he needed lots of sleep before going to another job. Being a DJ was hard. He deserved at least twelve hours of rest, didn't he?

"Bit –" Kagome slapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish, and slapped him upside his head.

"Mind your language, InuYasha! There are children in hearing range!" She slapped him upside his head again, and he bit back another curse. Kagome led Rin out of the room when she was assured that he was up and getting ready for his next DJ job, which he needed to leave for at five.

Sitting back down on the long, oversized, leather couch, Rin looked at Kagome. "Was Uncle Inu going to say the 'B' word? Rin heard that word when Fluffy was in what Jaken says is 'mad-town'." Kagome looked at the younger girl oddly.

"Who is 'Fluffy'?" She asked the young girl, her large brown eyes staring into chocolate-brown ones. Rin gasped and slapped a hand over her own mouth, shaking her head side to side.

"No, no, no! Rin was not supposed to say that! Master Jaken told Rin not to tell anybody!" Tears sprung into the young girls eyes as she berated herself for telling a secret.

"Shh… shh… calm down, Rin, I don't know what you're talking about." Kagome soothed, bringing the younger girl into her lap and rubbing soothing circles on her back. Slowly, the sobs subsided, and all that was heard was soft whispering, and soft hiccups.

"Now, Rin. Do you want me to forget about what you told me?" Kagome asked the girl, and she nodded her head. "Okay."

"You mean it? You mean you don't remember what Rin said?" Rin asked, quite confused.

"What did you say? I can't remember." Rin giggled again and snuggled into the older girl's side as the depression they made in the leather couch was made deeper than before. Picking up the remote, Kagome turned on the large TV and flipped through channels before stopping at one showing 'The Magic School Bus'. At least five minutes later, Rin's breathing evened out, and Kagome knew the girl had fallen asleep.

Twenty minutes later, InuYasha sprang down the stairs, taking three steps at a time with his long legs. He walked to the family room, only to see a sleeping Rin snuggled into Kagome's side, and Kagome herself, too absorbed in a TV show called 'The Magic School Bus' to even notice he was there. Bending down, he softly kissed Rin on the forehead, and said goodbye to Kagome. She grunted in response.

_7:43 P.M, Friday, May Twelfth. (Taishou Manor)_

Slowly Sesshomaru opened the large oak door of the mansion, and then walked in. Surprisingly, all of the lights were off, leaving him with only a pale blue light coming from the family room for him to see through the darkness. He placed his briefcase on the table near the door, knowing one of his retainers would get it later.

His shoes made a clipped sound that echoed throughout the house as he made his way to the light, or the family room. He was surprised to see Rin asleep next to Kagome, covered in a soft red throw, while Kagome was immersed in watching a TV show, which he discovered where the pale blue light was coming from. Obviously the TV. The sound was on mute, as to not awaken Rin, but still Kagome was captivated.

He too found himself engrossed in the strange, strange TV show, formally known as 'The Magic School Bus'. Sesshomaru watched as the kids got into trouble, time and time again. He watched as the bus swirled and changed into a dog… swirled and changed into a thermometer… swirled and shrank to the size of a flea.

Sesshomaru's attention was snapped to Kagome as the girl turned her head away from the glowing TV and she grunted what he supposed as a hello. Turning back, she pressed a button on the remote, and the TV was turned off. Slowly she lifted herself off the couch, careful not to wake Rin, and tried to walk over towards Sesshomaru.

_Tried_ to. She would've succeeded if it were not for that tight grip Rin had on her black T-shirt, making it so when she stood up, the T-shirt was pulled down an inch or two more than normal, and showed a little more cleavage than necessary. His façade unfazed and calm, Sesshomaru did the politest thing he could at the time, he averted his eyes – although rather begrudgingly.

Sighing, Kagome scooped the younger girl into her arms, and then walked over to Sesshomaru, confused. Why was he averting his eyes when looking at her? She glanced down, and gasped, quickly turning away and trying to fix her shirt with Rin still in her arms. After a few moments of just making it worse, she sighed again, and turned back around, not caring what Sesshomaru saw. He was politely averting his eyes, anyways.

"I should go tuck her into bed." Kagome said eventually, tired of just waiting in the hallway, both of them avoiding all eyes, and started for the magnificent marble staircase.

She only had to stop once in the middle of the staircase to catch her breath; it was hard climbing up a staircase with more than seventy steps, while carrying a fifty-one pound girl who was clinging onto your shirt! After a short breather, though, Kagome continued on up the stairs in the direction of Sesshomaru, who was currently waiting atop the staircase for her. He led her to a room with a plain white door, and opened it.

Not taking much time to appreciate the actual beauty of the room, Kagome gently set Rin down on the large, soft mattress and tucked the young girl in under the thick, silk blankets. Everything in the room, besides a few specific objects, was colored in a light, sky blue. Fluffy white clouds were painted on the ceiling of the large, palatial room, making it seem if one were staring up into the bright noon sky, cloud-gazing.

Slowly and hesitantly, Kagome made her way through the stuffed-animal covered floor, and gazed at the door that had a picture of a large white dog on it. While Sesshomaru was too busy saying goodnight to Rin and making sure the blankets were perfect, she reached out and grasped the cold doorknob.

Pulling it down, and tugging at the door, it opened and she almost gasped at the amount of clothes that the young girl had. There was almost every designer name in the one, large, walk-in closet, perfectly tailored just for Rin. Catching her breath, Kagome went to the right side of the large closet, and picked out a plain, light purple one-piece swimsuit, short orange shorts, and an oversized pale T-shirt that looked as if it belonged to Sesshomaru.

Folding the clothing into a small pile, Kagome left the closet, closing the door behind her, and walked back over to the large fluffy bed where Sesshomaru was making sure each and every swath of blanket was perfectly placed. Placing the pile of clothing on the nightstand beside Rin's bed, Kagome looked at the handsome man.

"Tell whoever dresses Rin in the morning for her to wear this." She motioned to the pile of clothing, "It's just a swimsuit and some over-clothes for her to wear." The two adults waded through the stuffed-animal covered floor, and walked out of the room. Sesshomaru closed the door behind him quietly.

"So… I guess we're not going out to dinner tonight…" She started hesitantly, just trying to make conversation with the supposed 'ice-cube,' as InuYasha called him.

"If you wish, I can order a pizza, and you may join me." He suggested, still not looking her in the eye. Looking at her chest and blushing slightly, Kagome fixed her shirt, making it so no cleavage was showing once again.

'_If I'm such a big influence that Rin wants to dress like me, then I better not wear anything inappropriate. Hah! Now I can tell Sango and Kikyo that I'm not actually allowed to wear anything that shows a lot of skin! Uh oh… but what about my swimsuit?_' During this mental conversation, she didn't notice Sesshomaru looking at her, oddly not glaring at her. Finally noticing all attention was on her, she blushed once again.

"Uh… sure. I'd love to join you for pizza." She smiled at him, and he looked away. Sighing contentedly, Kagome followed him as they made their way to the kitchen, to order the pizza and wait for it to come.

_8:26, Friday, May Twelfth. (Taishou Manor)_

_"Rin…" Her parents smiled and laughed down at her as she practiced her ballet dance for them again. She stopped, out of breath, and her father picked her up. They walked to the kitchen, and sat down at the counter that faced the beautiful view of the ocean, the young girl sitting between her parents._

_"Chocolate ice cream!" She cried, and dug her spoon into the bowl of ice cream, getting a small drop of it on her nose in the process. Her mother smiled and laughed again, wiping the drop off with a napkin._

_"Now that you've had your dessert, you need to go to bed, young lady." Her father chided, his long silver hair swishing behind him as he stood up._

_Her mother nodded, and picked her up. Though, not wanting to be left out, her father boasted his astonishing strength, and picked up his wife, Rin in her arms. He carried Rin's mother bridal style, Rin in her mother's arms, laying back against her warm chest and stomach. The girls giggled as he slowly walked up the marble stairs, not loosing his balance once._

_Gently he placed them down on Rin's bed, and her mother rolled off, then helped him tuck the young girl in. Holding her blankets to her chin, Rin smiled up at her parents, and they smiled back down at her. Leaning over they each placed a kiss upon her forehead, making the young girl giggle._

_"Goodnight." Her mother whispered, and they walked back to the door, closing it behind them as they left._

_Sesshomaru snaked his arm around Kagome's waist as they walked down the long hallway to their own bedroom._

Sighing sadly, Rin watched as Kagome walked down the steps on the front porch, slid into the driver's seat of her car, and drove away, giving one last small wave to where Sesshomaru leaned against the front door. Rin leaned over the railing of her balcony a little further in order to see her adoptive father's face.

It was just as impassive as always, his golden eyes glowing in the light that reflected from the inside of the mansion. Closing the large French doors that led out onto the balcony behind her, Rin climbed back into her fluffy, warm bed, crawling under the covers. She had pretended to be asleep before, just to see how it would feel to be tucked in by two parents again. She barely remembered her own, but she liked the way it felt from Kagome and Sesshomaru-sama.

Rin just wished that Fluffy wouldn't be in mad-town so much.

* * *

Thank you for the reviews for the first chapter, the same amount would be appreciated.

Kagome doesn't know who Fluffy is yet, and she doesn't know what mad-town is yet.

Please leave your E-mail, so I can reply to your review if you'd like.

Please review, I swear something even more interesting will happen next chapter, love, Cat.


	3. The Beach

One Last Summer

Chapter Three

_7:24 A.M, Saturday, May Thirteenth. (Taishou Manor)_

Walking up the steps of the porch and towards the doorway, Kagome turned around at hearing the sound of a car pull up. Sure enough, a bright red car passed through the iron gates at the bottom of the driveway, and pulled up in front of the fountain that was in the center of the circle-shaped driveway. A ragged looking InuYasha stepped out of the car, swaying as he made his way to her.

"Hey Yash. You just getting home?" Kagome asked, putting a steadying hand on his shoulder, and he nodded. InuYasha yawned, making her yawn, and so on, and so on…

"Didn't you leave at five yesterday? Gosh, did you just get back from a fourteen hour rave?" Her eyes widened in surprise, and he swayed in tiredness and yawned again.

"Yeah… but I had breaks in-between. I'm just…" Before he could even finish his sentence, his golden eyes closed, and he leaned more deeply onto her shoulder, snoring, fast asleep.

"H-help!" Kagome cried as she collapsed under his weight. Her head slammed onto the cobblestone-paved driveway, and she groaned. Sleeping soundly, and even drooling ever so slightly, was InuYasha, his long silver hair draping over her stomach like a curtain.

After a few minutes of trying – unsuccessfully – to push InuYasha off her, she cried out in frustration. "Argh! Oh come _on_. Your body is cutting off my air supply!" Kagome yelled at him, once again trying to push him away.

Just as she was about to cry out at the top of her lungs, a cry that Sango and Kikyo would hear, even though they were two miles away, someone opened the front door to the mansion and stepped out. The short, balding man wore the plain, but fancy garb of a butler. A broom at hand, he stood at the top of the staircase that led up the porch, and began to sweep away all the dirt and mud.

"Uh…" Kagome groaned, but realized that he could help her up. "Hey! You! Do you think you might be able to help me up?" She called out to him, and he looked up at the sudden interruption from his sweeping.

"Oh. Don't tell me, another girl scout – oh! Lord InuYasha! Are you alright?" Plain and outright ignoring the girl _underneath_ 'Lord InuYasha,' the man rushed to the fallen InuYasha, pulling at the sleeve of his shirt.

After a while of only receiving snores as responses, he finally noticed the girl that was trapped underneath InuYasha. "Hello there! When did you pop in?" He asked cheerfully, now poking at InuYasha's face. Kagome sweat-dropped, and would have fell over in shock if she had been standing up. But she wasn't she was trapped under all one hundred twenty and up pounds of InuYasha.

"Let's see… I think I got here… RIGHT BEFORE INUYASHA CRUSHED ME." She was sure that the only way anyone in the house that could have slept through that loud a yell would have to be deaf, or dead.

Either one, she didn't think inhabited any space of the mansion. The man winced, and helped Kagome push the male off of her, only making him snore even louder than before. Without even asking her to, Kagome helped the man drag InuYasha into the house and to the bottom of the large marble staircase, where a sleepy-eyed Rin now waited. She grinned at seeing Kagome.

"Kagome! You are here!" She yelled, and bounded down the rest of the stairs until she reached the older girl. Wrapping her arms around Kagome's waist, Rin held on for dear life, grinning like no tomorrow.

She hopped off when she saw her uncle on the floor, the servant trying to lift him. "Oh! Myoga! What happened to Uncle Inu?"

Kagome and Myoga were at a loss. They couldn't tell Rin that he had passed out from alcohol over usage, or from just being way too tired. Last time he had said that, Myoga had had to stay up late, looking out to windows with Rin until it was two in the morning, waiting for Uncle Inu to show up, so Rin could make sure that she tucked her uncle into bed.

"Uh… ah, you see… um, well… Uncle Inu… uh, he… he… he went BOOM! And fell over." Kagome stated simply, smiling at the end of her sentence. Myoga slapped a hand to his head un frustration, but was surprised when Rin stared up at Kagome, her eyes wide and believing, her small mouth in the shape of an 'o'.

"So… he exploded?" Rin asked shyly. The two adults toppled over with exhaustion. Not only from carrying InuYasha up the stairs, over the porch, into the front hall and onto the bottom stairs, the young girl just had to question them. Kagome shook her had, moving to her knees, and stared into Rin's face.

'_Maybe this will work better…_' She hoped, and opened her mouth.

"Uncle Inu is very… _heavy_. And he was just… so _heavy_ that he couldn't stand it any more, and just fell over. He went BOOM, because he landed on top of me." Kagome explained, and Rin had the same expression as last time.

"Oh. What does heavy mean?" The young girl asked, and the two adults almost fell over again. What were the teachers in school teaching these kids? Everybody's a happy person once they are drug free?

'_Well, that's a good thing, but come on. Don't tell me they don't know the definition of heavy yet!_' Apparently someone had already told her, for Rin stood there, a curious and contemplating look on her face.

"She means fat." A voice called from the open doorway. Kagome and Rin's head swiveled to the doorway, where two figures stood, their faces shadowed with the glare of the rising sun behind them. From two years of experience, Myoga already knew whom it was that had made their entrance.

They did something like that every time, if it was making a strange noise, scaring the pants off one of the servants that answered the door, or just plain old blow the door off. Although, glancing out of the corner of his eye, he only saw two of the normal trio standing there. Which meant that one of them was probably coming in via the back door…

'_Oh shit!_' Myoga cried mentally as he scrambled to his feet and took off towards the kitchen, where the back door was. Pulling herself to her feet, Kagome walked over to the boys and closed the door behind them, only in order to see their faces more clearly. Rin laughed and stood up as well, but didn't rush over to hug them like she usually did. They sighed dejectedly.

"Kohaku, Uncle Inu is _not_ fat." Rin giggled again, and looked around expectantly for the third member of the group to show up. Kagome stopped when she heard that name. There was only one person she knew…

"And who's this young lady over here?" The second, taller boy asked, motioning towards Kagome. She smirked and walked up to Kohaku, face to face.

"Aww… Kohaku, I'm so sad that you don't remember me!" Kagome cried, her lips twisting into a small pout. Kohaku's eyes widened when he realized whom it was he was staring in the face.

"Kagome!" He yelled, and wrapped his arms around the older girl. Not being one to not greet and old 'friend' correctly, Kagome used the strength she had acquired to pick him up and swing him around, almost throwing him into the staircase once. The other boy laughed at the expression on Kohaku's face, which had gone from gleeful to fearful.

Suddenly the two collapsed to the ground in laughter, Kagome hanging onto Kohaku's shoulders. "Alright Kohaku, now where is he. I know he's here, I can practically smell him." Kagome commanded, her posture straight now.

"He's out parking the car." The other boy said, not wanting to be left out. He was the attention hog of the group after all, and that was why he was the leader. His auburn hair pulled back in a short ponytail, he gazed at the older girl on the ground in front of him, hugging his friend.

"WHAT?" Kagome screamed, and immediately burst into a ranting rage. " I told him he couldn't park any cars anymore! I'm not paying for Sesshomaru's cars if he crashes into one of them. Blood or not, I swear I'm not related to him if he destroys anything…" And on, and on, and on…

"Kidding!" The boy said, holding his hands up in front of him as Kagome jumped to her feet. "We took the bus. He's back in the kitchen." The angry girl stopped her ranting and waited for something.

A large, ground-shaking crash ensured her that he really _was_ in the kitchen. Picking up the young girl that had been silent throughout the whole greeting, the four rushed to the kitchen, where a young boy in a chef's hat and apron and Myoga were covered in a sticky concoction, from head to toe. Even the ever-tired InuYasha had awoken at that one, and came striding into the kitchen, yawning.

"What the hell!" he shouted, opening his eyes and gazing around. Rin knew that when Uncle Inu went into a swear-fest, there was nothing one could do besides sit back and wait it out.

"Rin's heard that one." She mumbled at the word 'hell'.

"What little piece of shit did this to my kitchen?"

"Rin's heard that one." She mumbled at 'shit'.

"Why the fuck did you have to make it look like crap? Couldn't you candy-coat it?"

"Rin's heard those two." She mumbled at 'fuck' and 'crap'.

"I didn't mean –" The pancake batter-covered boy started, with a fearful look on his face, but was interrupted.

"My _ass_ you didn't –" This time, InuYasha himself was interrupted.

"InuYasha, shut up!" Kagome cried, smacking him upside the head.

"Rin's heard that one." She mumbled at 'ass'.

"What?" Rin heard Kagome ask her, the question directed towards her mumblings.

"Rin has – I mean, _I_ have heard those words before." She shrugged and looked down at the ground, not seeing the sad look that came into Kagome's eyes as she said it.

'_No matter where from, or who from, no child should know the meanings of those words at that age…_'

"Rin…" Kagome started, but was cut off as the young girl showed her the brightest smile she could muster at the moment.

"Can we go wake up Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin asked, her smile growing brighter at the thought.

"Alright, as soon as we get Souta cleaned up." For the first time since she had entered the room, Souta looked at her. He gasped.

"SIS!" He yelled, and rushed over to jump on her. They laughed and fell to the ground, everyone except Rin and Kohaku staring down at the pair oddly. They would each do the same if their favorite relative had appeared out of nowhere; Sango for Kohaku, and Sesshomaru for Rin.

"Uh… yeah. Hate to break up his joyful reunion, but now you're _both_ covered in pancake batter." InuYasha spoke sheepishly, rubbing the spot on the back of his head where Kagome had hit him.

"Souta! Now there's two things we know you can't do. Drive a car, and cook." Kagome laughed, and pulled herself to her feet, along with her younger brother. She gave him another hug, startling him.

"It's good… to see you too… but… I can't BREATHE!" His voice rose at the end, Kagome let him free with a laugh.

"Now. Before we go wake up Mr. Late sleeper, may I ask why you are here, and who is that?" She interrogated, pointing to the auburn-haired boy who had remained silent through the whole kitchen 'experience'.

"We're here because we are friends with Rin. And that is –"

"Someone who can introduce himself." The auburn-haired boy spoke. "My name is Shippou Takeshi. Now who are you, and why are you here?"

"Hi! I'm Kagome, and these are my younger brothers." She smiled, and wrapped an arm around Kohaku and Souta's shoulders. "And I am here, simply because I work here."

"Uh… I thought you only had one older sister, Kohaku…" Shippou responded, although hesitantly. The three laughed.

"No. I only have one older sister, which is Sango. You know how we're all so close, we're almost brothers? Well, Kagome is Souta's older brother, and you know… Sango and Kagome are best friends, and everything…" Kohaku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yeah, uh huh. Let's go and wake up Sesshy." Shippou stated, and walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Myoga walked over to Kagome, and began speaking to her.

"I'll bring you a robe to wear while we clean your clothes, Miss Higurashi." He said, and pulled a fluffy, white bathrobe out of a cabinet. He shoved her into a bathroom, where she changed, and came back out, handing him the oversized T-shirt, and the short black shorts that couldn't be seen when you were wearing the oversized T-shirt, thanks to the fact that they were _very_ short, and the shirt was _very_ large.

"Wait up!" She called after them, following them out of the kitchen and up the stairs. InuYasha parted with them when they reached the top of the stairs, mumbling something about being woken too early in the morning. The group of five, which consisted of the three boys, Rin, and Kagome, sneaked through the long hallway and down to Sesshomaru's room.

"Damn." Kagome whispered upon entering the room. If there were only three words to describe it, those three words would be Big, Bigger, and Biggest. It was a _Big_ room. _Bigger_ than her own. Actually, it was the _Biggest_ room she had ever seen in her whole twenty-three, going on twenty-four years of life.

"You said it, sister." Shippou whispered, and Kagome looked at him, surprised he had heard what she had said. He blushed as their eyes met, and Kagome almost smirked at the effect she had on the young, eleven-year-old boy.

In the center of the far wall, was a humongous bed, with a lump in the middle of it, softly snoring. Stars began to shine in Kagome's eyes as she gazed at the gigantic bed, a small twitch appearing above her right eye; no one was itching as much as Kagome just to go, run, and pounce on the fluffy bed. Rin giggled at seeing the look in her baby-sitter's eyes, and she pushed the older girl forward.

Without another thought, the two girls ran forward and jumped on the large bed, Kagome on the side of Sesshomaru, where the wife would lay sleeping, and Rin on top of Sesshomaru. The silver-haired man grunted, and opened a sleepy, golden eye. His eyes widened when he realized that the ebony-haired beauty that he looked at was indeed _not_ Rin, but the one and only baby-sitter, Kagome.

"Nice to see you're awake, Sesshomaru-sama." Kagome laughed in his face, and he felt three other bounces at the end of the bed. Lifting his head slightly, he saw that the three on the end of his bed were the three he didn't want to see this early in the morning. The terrible trio, he called them.

"Hurry up and get dressed, Sesshomaru-sama! We all want to get to the beach as fast as we can!" Rin chirped from her seat on Sesshomaru's legs. He growled and pulled a pillow over his head rolling over so his back faced Kagome, and that Rin fell off his legs and onto Shippou, giggling.

_10:48 A.M, Saturday, May Thirteenth. (Taishou Beach)_

Needless to say, Kagome was almost shocked to death when she learned that the Taishou's had there own beach. She had known that they had a strip of beach behind their house, but she hadn't known that the strip was the beach that went all along the coast for ten miles, and it was named after the Taishou's themselves.

It had taken a total of fifteen minutes to get Sesshomaru out of the comfort of his bed, and another twenty minutes to get him showered and dressed. Then they had had to wait an hour for Sesshomaru to finish up some work for the day, and then finally they had left. Only to return when Kagome had realized they had forgotten the picnic basket. Sesshomaru insisted that they forget about it, but the kids argued that they would starve to death if they didn't have it.

Twenty more minutes until they all finally reached the part of the beach they wanted, the one inhabited by locals and tourists. After all, Kagome had argued, why would they want to be on a secluded part of the beach when they could be soaking up the sun with the rest of Japan, meeting and greeting new friends, enjoying the loud cries of the happy people on the beach?

During the time that Sesshomaru was busy finishing up his morning work before they had left for the beach, Myoga had finished cleaning her clothes and drying them, and had brought them back to Kagome. Once again she had been shooed into a bathroom, and had changed out of the robe and into her short shorts and oversized T-shirt. Now it was time to take them off and enjoy the water, letting the world see her new swimsuit!

Half the male population at the beach was drooling at the sight of Kagome in her swimsuit, once she took off her oversized T-shirt and shorts. Souta and Kohaku turned away, both of them 'ewing' at the sight of their older sister. Well, even if they weren't related, for Kohaku it was like seeing Sango do that. Shippou blushed and tried to find something else to occupy his vision, while Sesshomaru's eyes had been closed the whole time since they had reached the beach.

"Oh shut up, you two. It's not like you've never seen me in a swimsuit before. We used to have a pool, after all." Kagome stuck her tongue out at them, and the three boys then decided that it was time to race to the water.

Rin giggled and stuck her toes in the sand, sitting on the sand next to Sesshomaru. He wore plain black swim trunks, and that was all. A beach umbrella was stuck into the sand next to him, shading his pale skin from the burning sunlight, and dark, designer sunglasses adorned his eyes. His hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck in a loose ponytail.

Taking off her own over clothes, Rin laughed again and went over to where Kagome was sitting on the sand, letting the water run over her legs each time the waves rolled onto the beach. She sat next to the older girl, sticking out her own legs to feel the waves rush against them.

"Kagome-chan, will you help Rin – I mean, _me_ build a sand castle for Sesshomaru-sama?" She asked tentatively, her large chocolate brown eyes gazing up into Kagome's own beautiful brown ones.

The older girl smiled down at the younger one, and replied, "Sure! We'll make it over here, where the waves can't reach it, and where Sesshomaru won't see it until we take him to see it!" The two girls walked over to where the Kagome had pointed, which was right behind where Sesshomaru was laying.

"Okay! Where to start!" Kagome chirped, and they began making the body of the castle.

Half way through, Sesshomaru seemed to notice the constant giggling behind him, and stood up and walked over to where they were making the sand castle. He lifted his sunglasses slightly so they rested on his unmarred forehead, and knelt down next to Rin.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Look! We are making you a sand castle!" Rin cheered, smiling. "Kagome-chan is helping me!" Sesshomaru was glad the grammar lessons were paying off finally, and that Rin was stopping speaking in third person.

"I'll go get some more seashells for the decorations, okay?" Kagome spoke, smiling at the interaction between Sesshomaru and Rin. He nodded.

"Don't get eaten by a shark, Kagome-chan!" Rin laughed, as did Kagome. The older girl left the other two, walking down the sandy beach, zipping in-between people laying on the sand to the dark water. She bent down in the water and picked a few up, when she noticed something: The deeper she walked into the water, the larger the seashells were.

Wallowing in deeper so that the water was up to her waist, she realized that the only thing in the water she could see was her reflection, and nothing else. Suddenly, something grabbed her leg, wrapping itself around the limb, and dragged her underwater. Her scream was muffled as the vulgar water found its way into her mouth, stifling her words. Underwater, her gaze met that of an auburn-haired, aqua-eyed boy she knew as Shippou.

"Argh! You… you… you twerp!" She yelled when she resurfaced. The three boys were laughing their heads off at the now-soaking wet Kagome. That was, until she jumped and tackled all three of them down under the water. Shippou blushed. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you may see it, his face had landed right in Kagome's chest.

She laughed when she let them up for air, a malicious grin on her face at the sight of them all trying to catch their breath. Their faces were all red, their hair dripping, and she didn't notice the exceedingly fast heat that was growing in Shippou's face. Passing it off as just the lack of breath, she walked out of the water, still laughing.

"That's why you don't want to try that again!" Kagome yelled at the coughing boys as she made her way back to the beach.

"Hey! Kagome! Is that really you?" A voice bubbled out from behind her, and she turned around to face it.

"Hojo!" She cried, surprised to see her old friend after such a long time. He smiled down at her, his hazel eyes kind and caring. He followed after her as she made her way back up the beach and to the sand castle she and Rin were building for Sesshomaru.

"I haven't seen you since we graduated high school! How are you?" He asked, his eyes straying to her chest, where her two-piece swimsuit was only semi-modest. She noticed this, and sat down next to the sand castle.

'_No ring on her finger! Yes!_' Hojo cheered mentally.

"I'm doing great. Just taking some time to relax and build a sand castle with Rin!" Kagome pointed to Rin, who was a few feet off, laughing with Sesshomaru. Well, she was laughing, he was impassive.

"I didn't know you had a younger sister!" He spoke, sweat beginning to drip down his forehead, noting the similarities between Rin and Kagome.

"I don't." She stated simply, applying a seashell to one of the outer walls of the sand castle.

"So… you mean… she's your –" He gulped as she nodded. '_If you mean she's my charge, then yes._'

"And you are…" Another gulp as she nodded. '_Yes, if you mean I'm her baby-sitter, then yes._'

"And…" Hojo gulped for what seemed the millionth time that day, and motioned towards Sesshomaru, who was currently being buried in sand by Rin. "He's… is he…" Kagome nodded again. '_If you mean he's mean is he my boss, then yes._'

Hurriedly, Hojo left her alone, and Kagome sighed in relief.

"Who was that boy?" Sesshomaru asked when Kagome came closer and sat down next to Rin, helping her bury Sesshomaru in the sand.

"No one. Just and old friend that will never bother me again." She stated, and Sesshomaru decided to leave her alone. He had overheard her conversation with him, and was wondering why she had done it.

"Why did you –"

"Did I mention that I made cookies yesterday? I brought some today." Standing up, Kagome strode over to the picnic basket, where she pulled out a towel, which she then laid out on the sand. Putting every item of food out on the blanket – which was a lot – she called the boys over, and they all enjoyed a nice lunch, with wonderful cookies as dessert.

_4:17 P.M, Saturday, May Thirteenth. (Taishou Beach)_

"Kagome-chan?" Rin whispered timidly as the older girl looked down at her.

"Yes Rin-chan?"

"May I… may I switch shirts with you? Mine is all wet." Kagome smiled, and took off her over-shirt, handing it down to Rin as the young girl took off her own over-shirt, passing it to the older girl. They both shivered as the bitter afternoon winds nipped at their arms. Their stomachs and chests were covered by their swimsuits, but that was all.

Rin smiled as she saw Kagome put on the over-shirt. In curvy lettering, it had 'Fluffy' written on it, yet Kagome didn't know who that was. Sesshomaru had given the shirt to Rin when he had to go way for a business trip, making it seem as he were still there when he wasn't. The shirt made it seem as if Kagome belonged to Sesshomaru. Just like Rin always wanted.

* * *

I'm sorry it took so long for the update, but it's hard because I'm my own beta, and I just don't feel like rereading it. 

Dear **randomdreams**: I have been writing fanfiction since October 12th, a member of FF since September 26th, a member of MM since October 10th, all in the year 2005.

My older brother got a 32 on his ACT's. I'm not bragging, just happy.

The next chapter will be up soon! Holy crap, my first exclamation point ever used in this story's author's note.


	4. The Cold

One Last Summer

Chapter Four

_7:46 A.M, Monday, May Twenty-Sixth. (Taishou Manor)_

The two girls sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen, a cookie in their left hands, and a sippy-cup of milk in their right. Mechanically, they took a bite of the cookie, chewed it five times, swallowed, and took a sip of milk out of their 'fancy' sippy-cups, which had pictures of dancing cartoon characters on them. After the procedure was fulfilled when they finished the cookie, they each reached for another cookie.

They watched as Sesshomaru scrambled back and forth through the kitchen, to the dining room, then into his office, and scramble back through all the rooms and into the kitchen. He growled every once in a while, alerting the servants to keep out of his way. It was the first time that something like this had ever happened.

Sesshomaru Taishou was late for work.

Apparently, he had had a very bad night the night before, after Kagome had left when he had come home for work, and hadn't gotten any sleep at all. The two girls cringed at the look he had. It wasn't just the scowl on his face that scared them; it was the way his silver hair was ruffled, the way his suit was wrinkled. Dark circles marred his perfect skin as they hung under his eyes, as if proving he hadn't gotten sleep at all. They did their job well.

All in all, he looked like a total mess. Looking closer at his face while he searched below them in the island for some papers, Kagome actually thought she saw a bit of something yellow dripping out of his nose. His eyes were bloodshot and if one were to look very closely, they would see his whole body was shaking.

Reaching down to him, Kagome placed the back of her hand against his forehead. It appeared he had a fever, since he was burning up! She brought her hand back up with a fake hiss, and Sesshomaru looked up at her with his puffy red eyes. Not from crying. It was from all the mucus that was dripping down his throat and his nose. Grabbing a tissue from a nearby box, she put it to his nose.

"Blow." She stated calmly, and he did as she said. She handed him a tissue box, and stood up, placing her unfinished cookie on the island counter. Rin looked down at Sesshomaru awkwardly as he began to sway back and forth on his feet.

The young girl cried out, and Kagome glanced at her silver-haired boss. "That's it. What's the number of your secretary?" She asked, and he stood up to look at her.

"Why?" He asked quietly, most of his energy to keep himself from toppling over.

"Because you can't go to work today. You're sick." She explained, picking up the phone and searching around the phone numbers pasted to a bulletin board for his secretary's number.

"They need me there; I'm the boss. I don't have a choice not to go."

"Well now you don't have the choice to go either. Just look at yourself, you're sick." He grabbed her wrist as she began to look in his expensive briefcase, and her soft brown eyes gazed back up into his golden amber ones.

"I'm fi –" His sentence was cut off as he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"So much for that phrase." She went over to Rin, who had screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw her adoptive father fall to the ground. For all she knew, he could be dead!

'_Kagome-chan wouldn't let Sesshomaru die… would she?_' She clutched onto the older girl's arm as she was lifted into the air, and Kagome carried her out of the kitchen, up the stairs, down the hall, and into Sesshomaru's bedroom. The older girl had given instructions to a servant, but Rin hadn't heard them, her vision too clouded with confusion and worry for Sesshomaru.

"Don't worry, Rin-chan… Sesshomaru will be just fine. He's just tired…" Kagome soothed, setting the girl down on Sesshomaru's bed. In came to large servants, who looked like they were part of the mansion's security, and placed their master on his bed, next to Rin.

The young girl scrambled up and grasped onto the unconscious man's shirt, not caring that he had mucus dripping out of his nose. Reaching for another tissue, Kagome wiped his nose of the mucus, and tried to tuck the two under the blankets. The bed hadn't been made yet, since it was only quarter to eight, and those servants didn't come to work until eight thirty.

"He'll be awake soon, Rin-chan. You go back to sleep, you were up too early this morning." Rin shook her head no, but was tucked under the regal-looking blankets anyways, Sesshomaru as well.

"Go back to sleep, and when you wake up, I promise Sesshomaru will be awake." Kagome whispered. She turned off the lamp on Sesshomaru's bedside table, and the room was swathed in darkness. Softly she kissed Rin's forehead, and went to go get Sesshomaru some medicine for his fever.

"Don't worry, Sesshomaru-sama… Kagome-chan will take care of you…"

"Kagome-chan… Kagome-chan… Kagome-mama…"

_12:08 P.M, Monday, May Twenty-Sixth. (Taishou Manor)_

Slowly and softly, Kagome prodded Sesshomaru awake. As his eyes squinted open, and his breathing quickened to the pace it was when he was conscious, she held her hand to his forehead before pressing a cold clothe to it. The cold water was squeezed out of the cloth, and dripped down the sides of his face, making him groan with the sudden coldness.

Taking the chance as his mouth opened, Kagome shoved a spoonful for red liquid into his mouth. Sesshomaru sputtered and tried to spit the disgusting, cherry-flavored liquid out, only to find that the procedure was very hard, considering the fact that he was laying, back down, in his bed.

"What is this vile liquid you feed me?" He asked, sputtering again as another spoonful made its way down his throat.

"It's just something to make sure your fever doesn't come back. It went down a few hours ago, but we want to make sure it doesn't come back for Rin's party tomorrow!" The cheerfulness almost made him wince because of the pounding headache that shooed all thoughts away.

"Rin's party…" He whispered unsurely, trying to remember through the cloudiness of his mind.

Suddenly, the memory came back to him through the confusion, and he understood what she was talking about. Two weeks ago he had sent out invitations to Rin's birthday party, which was to be held at their summer vacation cottage up north by the lake, and would be in session for three days. InuYasha and his four friends had been invited, which meant that Kagome was to come as well.

Many relatives were invited, which included his own and InuYasha's father, some random aunts that lived nearby, and one crazy cousin, who we all know as Kouga. The terrible trio would be coming as well, meaning there would be entertainment galore throughout the whole ordeal, as well as hired entertainment. Rin wouldn't clap any louder than when she did for the trio, though, since they were her best friends.

"Yes. We leave for it tomorrow, on her birthday, and will arrive a few hours later. You rest up today, because we leave early." Kagome poked at his throat again, making sure that all the liquid was completely down his throat.

'_How does she know when we're leaving?_'

"How do I know when we're leaving? Well, just because _someone_ forgot to tell me when, I had to ask Myoga." She answered his question unintentionally, but it worked for him just the same.

He sat up a bit, and she pushed him forward so that his head was against his knees, which had been drawn up to his chest. Sesshomaru felt her fluff the pillows behind him, and Kagome pulled him back to rest against the pillows. She disappeared into the hallway, but a few minutes later she had brought back a tray for his lap, which had everything he could need at a time like this.

"I asked a servant what you liked to read, and they ran away screaming. So I don't know. I brought you a business one of some sort." She whispered, placing the tray on his lap. A bowl held delicious looking soup of some kind, and a small plate off to the side held a strange looking bread and butter. A mug of hot, steaming tea was set on the nightstand next to his bed.

"Don't be too loud, though, Rin's sleeping." Kagome smiled at him again, and brought a tissue up to his nose. With another saying of 'blow,' he blew his nose free of the mucus that had collected there, and she smiled again, throwing it away.

"I'll be right over here if you need anything." Kagome pointed to a chair she had set up a few feet away from the bed, in reach if anything were to happen, or if he needed anything.

Sesshomaru sipped his soup slowly, making sure the heat of it didn't burn his tongue and kill some taste buds. He watched Kagome as she flipped through a magazine, tearing out coupons and ads once in a while, or marking a page by bending the corner. She laughed softly when she came across a funny article, and marked the page.

He gazed at the small form of a child that lay beside him, slumped against the pillow next to his own. Her breathing was soft and regular, and every so often a smile would form on her small lips, signifying that her dreams were happy ones. She was the one that looked up to him like he was a god, like he had been her savior. He _had_ rescued her from that horrible orphanage, but he was no guardian angel.

He remembered the words that she had spoken to him before, just as he had barely regained consciousness, just for a second. For a moment, he had just froze, searching through her words and hoping that he had only heard wrong. Maybe he had thought the word –_sama_ sounded like the word –_mama_. And in his strange, feverish state, his mind had been confused and had heard the wrong thing. Yeah, that was it.

The only real problem, was that he knew he hadn't. Distinctly the words had fallen from her small mouth.

"_Don't worry, Sesshomaru-sama… Kagome-chan will take care of you…_"

"_Kagome-chan… Kagome-chan… Kagome-mama…_"

"Is something wrong? Do you feel worse?" A soft voice broke him away from his memories and his thoughts. Sesshomaru looked up into the worried brown eyes of Kagome, who was leaning over him and his tray. Silently she moved it out of the way, his meal having been finished, and he needed enough room to rest.

She sat down on the edge of the bed next to him, smoothing out the blankets before she sat. A small, soft hand made its way to his forehead, checking his temperature for the fourth time that day. Slowly her hand moved back and forth across his temples, massaging his stressed mind free of the turmoil that resided in his mine when thinking about work. Maybe it wasn't a cold, just pent up stress…

"I'm fine. Just a bit thirsty again." He said quietly, turning is head into her soothing palm. Kagome smiled at the small action, but then took her hand away and stood up.

"I'll get you some more tea." As soon as she left the room, Sesshomaru made himself comfortable in the mass of blankets surrounding him, preparing to go back to sleep when he heard a noise next to him. Rin was softly breathing, and muttering something or other in her sleep. Something he _really_ wanted to hear, though.

"Stop… Fluffy… no, Jaken… no more mad-town… please stop…" Her mumblings stopped as she turned over to her other side, leaving a confused Sesshomaru to ponder over her words.

When Kagome came back with a full mug of tea five minutes later, she found that Sesshomaru had fallen back asleep. Resting the tea on the nightstand next to his bed, she smiled and leaned over the tuck the covers up to his chin. Upon just plain instinct and reaction, she stayed where she was leaning over him for a moment and stared down at his peaceful slumber.

Placing a small kiss on his brow, she whispered, "Sleep tight, Maru-chan. Don't disappoint Rin. Don't disappoint your daughter." With that she sat back down in her chair and flipped through the magazine while sipping at her own tea, like nothing had just occurred.

Little to her knowledge, Sesshomaru had been awake the whole time, silently contemplating Rin's words. When she had entered the room, he had pretended to be asleep, only because he had wanted to be left alone. He had expected it when she had tucked him under his blankets, upon being the natural instinct to do so, and had expected the 'sleep tight,' but he had not predicted the kiss.

The imprint of her lips still burned at his skin of his forehead where she had placed the kiss on his brow. How much he yearned to feel the place where she had kissed him, to wipe away the hot feeling that was slowly covering his whole body like a blanket, seeping through his blood like hot chocolate on a cold winter night. It wasn't bad that she had kissed him, because she had only really kissed his _brow_. It was just that he hadn't been kissed in _so long_.

The last time he had kissed a woman besides Rin herself – which he didn't really kiss, more of her kissing him – had been _her_. The last time had been _that_ night. The night that when she had left, the night that he didn't want to remember. It had been the night that he had told her to leave, so fiercely and so loudly that it had scared Rin to tears.

Not that the young girl hadn't warned him beforehand that _she_ was a bad person. Over and over Rin had told him that _she_ was mean, that _she_ was just faking it, and that Sesshomaru-sama deserves someone better than that wicked witch of the wind. Yet he had never listened to her cautioning words, he had brushed them off as a childish phase, or that Rin disliked the attention he was giving _her_.

No. He didn't want to remember any of that. The plain reminder was just the effect it had had on Rin. The young girl was just… _different_ since _she_ had come and gone. There seemed to be a sense of longing that the young girl had in her eyes. If only he knew what she wanted, what would make her the happy young girl she once was…

Now it was just best for him to drift of into the land of unconsciousness, forgetting – even if it was just for a moment – that anything had ever happened. Sleep…

_Dreams… _

He perched atop the soft white clouds, gazing down at the world below with his golden eyes, his chin resting atop his hands. The world below him – Tokyo specifically – surged with action and life that he longed to join. Yet it seemed that he was stuck up here, lying down in the clouds, watching the people wind in and out between the cars that crowded the city streets.

He saw a bright, raven-haired, brown-eyed girl that jumped through the streets, a young girl hanging on to her wrist. They laughed and giggled all the way, attracting more than a little attention with their bright colored clothing and loud giggling. He watched them closer than he did the others below him.

The small girl whispered something in the older one's ear, and a bright grin appeared on both their faces as they passed a group of boys the younger girl's age. Two of the three boys had dark brown hair, one with freckles, and the other with a soccer ball under his arm. The third had the strangest hair, and was the tallest of the three, walking around arrogantly, like he owned the street.

'Hey! Shippou! Souta! Kohaku!' he didn't like the two girls being so familiar with those boys. They had bad news written all over them. Literally. The one with the freckles was wearing a T-shirt with 'bad news' written on it.

The group of five talked for a bit, before parting again, the three boys heading towards the north, and the two girls heading south. He watched as they resumed their game of giggling and pointing things out to one another, trying to get the other to laugh. He watched them as they made their way to a large mansion.

The young girl was quite comfortable with the mansion, running around the place like she owned it. While the other, older girl, who looked to be in her early twenties, walked around carefully, wary of breaking something, and then having to pay for it. The thought seemed to be running through her mind, since she avoided going near any major artifact that looked fragile.

A stoic character walked through the door, looking like he had just gotten back from a horrible day of work. His long silver hair swayed around his knees, and he shut the door behind him. The man said something to the two girls, but he – up in the clouds as he was – couldn't make it out. His face stayed impassive, and emotionless, as he spoke and moved around. The young girl smiled and ran upstairs.

He found his vision blurring until the mansion disappeared from view, and so did the world active with people below him, they all faded away until all he could see was the blank whiteness of his ceiling.

_Consciousness…_

"Sesshomaru-sama! You are awake!" A voice cried from his side, and he turned his head to face Rin. A large grin on her face, as usual, she stopped shaking him. The only reason he _was_ awake was because she had woken him.

"Kagome-chan said you would be awake when Rin – _I_ woke up, and you were! You are!" Latching her arms around him, the young girl held on tightly to the older man, worried that if she let go, he would become sick again, and miss out on the three-day birthday party of hers that was coming up tomorrow, for the following three days.

"How are you feeling? Your old tea got cold, would you like me to get you some more?" Kagome's soft, light voice asked tentatively from the side of the bed. She smiled down at his face, her eyes sparkling with rejoice that he was well. Sesshomaru was about to shake his head no, when he stopped himself.

"Take Rin to the park. I'll be fine, but Rin needs to run around a bit." He spoke softly, his voice hoarse and dry from a long time of not eating or drinking anything. Looking at the clock, he noticed that it was three, and about time for him to check in with his secretary to see what he missed at work.

"Can Sesshomaru-sama come with us?" Rin asked excitedly, bouncing up and down on the bed next to him. Kagome looked hesitantly at him.

"Only if he feels up to it, and wants to go, but we'll need to bring lots of tea!" Both girls looked at him with wide, pleading eyes, hoping he would say yes, and spend the rest of he day with them. He sighed. There was no way in hell that he could say no the those large, watery eyes that begged him to say yes.

"Fine…" Before he even finished saying the word, the two girls were out the door to his room, and into Rin's, leaving him the privacy to dress, and going to get Rin herself dressed.

A few minutes later, Rin and Kagome zoomed back into the room, Rin now fully changed into shorts and a T-shirt instead of her nightgown, making sure they knocked first. After all, what a horror it would be for them to walk in on Sesshomaru, changing! The poor girls' eyes would burn with the terror of the sight, and they would be scarred for life! _As if…_

"Don't tell me you're wearing _that_ to the park." Kagome covered her eyes after taking one look at what the silver-haired man was wearing.

"I am wearing what is suited for a day at the park." He responded icily, and the older girl peeked through the fingers that were covering her eyes.

"Suited for a day at the park? People wear _casual_ clothes for a day at the park." She fully uncovered her eyes, and walked over to him, so she could reach out a finger and poke him in the chest. "And let me tell you something; dress pants are NOT _casual_."

Walking over to his closet door and opening it, Kagome only took a small minute to marvel at the sure size of it all, before she searched through the racks of clothes. A lot of things were tossed around, before finally a pair of khaki shorts were thrown his way, as was a plain black, button-up T-shirt with a white tank top. He had to duck when a pair of running shoes was tossed to him, for fear he wouldn't be able to catch them with the shorts, button-up, and tank top in his hands.

"You change. We'll wait down stairs and make some tea for you to carry around." She demanded, and pulled Rin out of the room so he could change into the more casual clothes. The young girl was giggling all the way to the kitchen, where Kagome made more tea, and put it into a thermos for Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru sure has bad taste in casual clothing, Rin-chan." Kagome said while they waited for the water to boil.

"Sesshomaru-sama doesn't like to wear casual clothing! He says it makes him look too young." Rin replied, grinning a small grin as Kagome poured the burning water into two separate thermoses, one for Sesshomaru, and one for herself.

"Oh? And how old is Sesshomaru-sama?" She had always wanted to know, but had never had the guts to ask anyone, not even InuYasha. Better try now, or else she'd never get the guy to answer for himself.

"I think Sesshomaru-sama is twenty-six!" Kagome choked on the tea she had been sipping.

'_TWENTY-SIX? I thought he was surely in his early to mid thirties!_' She cleaned up her spilt tea, and decided that it was just the business suits he always wore that made him look a lot older than he actually was. '_He's only a few years older than me…_'

"Let's go." Sesshomaru called from the entranceway, and they made their way out the side door and into the garage. Kagome almost choked on her tea again. The garage was almost as big as her, Sango, and Kikyo's apartment they shared! Forgetting about that, she gazed at the ten, magnificent cars that shined before her.

"Uh huh… which one do we take?" She asked uncertainly. How was there a way for rich people to choose which car to drive to work each day? Kagome herself would drive a different one every day if she had any say in it! But alas, she had a rusty old Ford that she drove everywhere.

They decided – well, mainly Rin decided – that they should take a large, yet sleek, black car that had a foreign name that Kagome couldn't pronounce. With this car, and Sesshomaru driving, it only took ten minutes to get to the park, when it usually took three times as long. Despite the fact that he was icy and cold, seemingly ten years more mature than he actually was, Sesshomaru drove cars like a mad speed man.

"Remind me to let Rin to drive us back." Kagome gasped as she got out of the car, clutching the side for her dear life.

"But Kagome-chan, Ri – _I_ can't drive –"

"Better you than Sesshomaru…" Kagome muttered under her breath, not aware of the glare sent her way by the driver of the car as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car as well.

"C'mon Kagome-chan! Let's play!" Together the two girls ran to the large park, where they ran around the playground, sliding down slides and climbing up the monkey bars. Sesshomaru sighed, locked the car with a click of a button, and sat down on a bench to watch as Kagome pushed Rin on the swings. The two then took turns chasing each other around, making a flock of pigeons scatter when they ran through them.

"It's like having two children… except for one is a big, twenty-three year old girl who gets hyper off _vanilla_ ice cream." Sesshomaru muttered to himself, remembering the time he had given her vanilla ice cream the week before. Which would have been alright, had it not been for the narrowed set of eyes that watched him and glared at the gilr that had _dared_ take Sesshomaru's attention away from _her_.

* * *

Sorry for the lateness of the third chapter, but I was hanging out with my friends. 

Sorry, the dream doesn't mean much now, but it will later, I promise.

I don't care about the amount of reviews. I just like to know that a few people are faithful, and I'm good…

Sorry, this chapter was sort of a filler. So will the next chapter. Happy New Years, Love Cat.


	5. The Water

One Last Summer

Chapter Five

_4:25 P.M, Monday, May Twenty-Sixth (Meiru Park)_

"Hello again, Sesshomaru." A voice drawled from beside him, and he felt the weight of someone sitting on the bench next to him. He didn't need to turn, or look out of the corner of his eye to see whom it was. He just hoped that Rin and Kagome didn't look over and see her.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly, resisting – with much more effort than usual – the urge to take the head of the one sitting beside him and smash it into the playground slide, then bury it in the sand, or hang it from the monkey bars, or possibly just let the other nine-year-olds at the park beat it up.

"Is that any way to greet and old _friend_?" A sharp, newly manicured hand found its way to Sesshomaru's arm, and it rubbed the bare skin. "You never wore anything like this when _we_ were going out. You never took Rin and I to the _park_, either." The voice whined, and he almost growled. How could it be that he never before realized how _annoying_ that voice was? Had he been deaf?

"You hate anything to do with children. Besides, Kagome and I are not going out." He stated simply, yet icily, and looked over at the woman sitting beside him. He pushed away from her hand, grabbing it in a steel-like grip and forcing it to stay down and away from any more of his skin.

"Oh? Is that the bitch's name?" Kagura crossed her legs. "So you're not going out, huh? Well than why is it that you took her to the park? On a _workday_?" She reached out another nail, intent on raking it across his chest, but found her hand in another steel-like grip. Hissing, her hand was released, and she shook out the numb feeling.

"I happen to be sick. No, Kagome and I are NOT going out. She is the baby-sitter." Kagura smirked a wicked half-smile, that looked ugly and twisted on her deep red painted lips.

"Baby-sitter, huh?"

"That's what I said."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you so stupid that you can't comprehend the words 'BABY-SITTER'?"

"Compre-whu?"

"Understand."

"Understand what?"

"It would be best if you left right now."

"But I just got here!"

"I think I would know when someone had been stalking me for the past few months."

"Listen, baby –" Kagura put a strangely long-fingered hand on his arm, rubbing it once again.

"Keep your _sickening_, _ugly_, _tainted_ hands off me." The icy tone of his voice made even the birds in the trees shudder, Kagura more because she was on the receiving line of it. He got up and walked over to where Rin and Kagome were playing on the playground, and dragged them off and away to the car.

The first few minutes of the car ride home were spent in silence, Rin drooping of to sleep since she had wasted so much energy playing at the park with Kagome. Her small head slumped to the side of her body, she was completely oblivious to the exceeding speed that kept increasing each minute as Sesshomaru tried to take the 'long way' home. Kagome glanced at him as she tried to keep a grip on the dashboard in front of her.

"Sesshomaru?" She whispered tentatively, unsure if he would either burst into tears, or just start yelling at her like a mad man. He kept his foot on the gas, and didn't look at her as she stared at him.

"Sesshomaru?" She tried again, but was still ignored. "Sesshomaru, who was that lady at the park? Who was sitting on the bench hitting on you?" Kagome cowered as he sent a glare her way, but straightened when his gaze turned back to the road.

"Kagura."

"Really? I thought her name was 'slut'. I mean, she had it written _all over her_." Kagome swore she saw an almost-smile flicker on his lips, but the second she had seen it, it was gone, and the emotionless façade was back up, guarding his feelings.

"And why aren't we back yet? With the speed you're driving with, we should have been there five minutes ago." They didn't appear to be anywhere near the house, while they should have been there a long time ago.

"I need some drinks." Was his simple answer.

Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "C-cho-CHOCOLATE?" If she wasn't so shocked already, she would have been astonished to death when Sesshomaru actually smiled, and chuckled in his deep voice.

"Yes, you can get some chocolate ice cream."

_7:08 A.M, Tuesday, May Twenty-Seventh. (Taishou SummerHouse, Rin's Birthday)_

A hyper Rin ran around the summer cottage as decorations were being put up, presents were being wrapped, and the cake was being delivered. Although, _cottage_ was definitely the wrong word to describe their summerhouse. It could've been called a mansion, except for the fact that the house was taller than it was wide. Having been six stories high, not including the attic and basement, there was a combination of three rooms on each floor.

Sighing, Kagome sat down on the large, plush couch and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. She had gotten up at five, reached the Taishou manor at five thirty, and then they had left for the summer 'cottage,' and arrived at seven, just a mere ten minutes before. Apparently Rin had gotten so much sleep the day before, now she was just too hyper to even consider the wondrous thought of sleep.

"Rin –" She started as the girl went screaming past the doorway to the living room, where Kagome was resting on the couch.

"IT'S RIN'S BIRTHDAY! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! CAKE! CANDY! FUN!" The girl shouted, dragging a ragged looking Sesshomaru into the room and latching onto the older girl's waste, where she grinned up and refused to let go.

Sesshomaru sighed. "I'll give you fifty bucks if you get her to be quiet." He muttered, and Kagome laughed at the pained expression that was portrayed in his eyes.

"Rin, why don't we go outside? Or maybe you'd like to help me unpack upstairs?" Rin nodded her head excitedly, and ran up the multiple staircases, until she reached the fifth floor, where Kagome's temporary bedroom was situated. She opened the door with a shock of energy, and jumped on the suitcase that waited patiently on the bed.

The two girls spent a good amount of time unpacking Kagome's suitcase, folding clothes and putting it in the set of drawers that was in the room, or putting them on a hanger and hanging it in the closet across from her bed. Rin's chatter was non-stop, only slightly muffled when she bent over the drawer that she had just put a folded pair of pants in.

"Will you help Ri – _me_ pick out some clothes to wear, Kagome-chan?" Rin asked when they were done folding and unpacking.

"Of course, Rin-chan! What would you like to wear today?" Together they walked out of the room and up the last staircase that led to the sixth, and final floor, where Rin's bedroom was.

"Can I look like you, Kagome-chan?" The young girl asked hesitantly, unsure as to if the older girl would be happy, or slightly freaked out. Rin relaxed, and sighed in relief when Kagome smiled, and looked in Rin's closet.

"Hm… what should we wear today? A khaki skirt? How about that and a navy blue T-shirt! Oh! And some nice black sandals as well!" Rin changed into the clothes that Kagome had picked out for her, and they traveled back to the fifth floor where Kagome changed her clothes so that the two matched. If a person were to look at the two, they would've swore that they were mother and daughter, sisters at least.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Sesshomaru-sama! Look at what Kagome-chan and me are wearing! Don't you like it?" Sesshomaru almost choked on the tea he was being ordered to sip by Kagome to make sure his fever stayed away.

If it wasn't for the fact that he knew that Kagome was not Rin's mother, and that the older girl was actually the baby-sitter, he wouldn't have been able to tell if they were related, or not. If he had been anyone beside himself, he would've believed that they truly were a family, and not just baby-sitter and charge.

"V-very good, Rin." He said quietly, and went back to sipping his tea. The two girls turned around and left, walking outside to where the other party decorations were being set up.

"RIN!" A few moments later, a giant splash was heard, and Sesshomaru raced outside to where a raging commotion was in being arranged. Right as he reached the front of the group that was crowded around the lake on which shore's the house was situated, another, larger splash was heard, and the crowd gasped. He reached the front just in time to see Kagome, still adorning her skirt and T-shirt, jump into the water and swim after something.

When he realized that the 'something' she had jumped in after was Rin, Sesshomaru jumped in as well. The crowd gasped once again as Kagome grabbed onto Rin, the young girl coughing and struggling for breath. Once again, another gasp was heard as Sesshomaru reached the two girls, grabbing onto their hugging forms and pulling them into his arms. He swam back to the shore, far away from the dock where they had fallen off of, pulling the two with him.

"Ses-Sesshomaru…" Kagome tripped over her words with the coldness of the water seeping through her clothes. She grasped onto him in a hug, holding a coughing and sputtering Rin in between them.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have let Rin walk so close to the water, and we shouldn't have gone onto the dock! I mean what if she could have fallen in and you wouldn't have been there, and then we would've drowned and then we would be dead! Really, really, really dead! I am so sorry, please forgive me! Please! I am so, so sorry. If you'd like, I will just leave right now and you can hire a better, more experienced baby-sitter…

Her ramblings continued as her she let go of Sesshomaru, and tried to hug the water out of Rin. She didn't stop when he tried to hold up a hand to stop her, and she didn't stop when Rin tried to assure her, over and over again, that she was alright. But when Rin caught snatches of Kagome's ramblings about leaving, the young girl burst into tears, making the older one do the same.

His eyes widened when he heard her say something. "You… you don't have experience in this field?"

"No. Not at all." Kagome replied, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, only succeeding in spreading around the redness. Sesshomaru was speechless. All this time, this girl had been working for him, as his adopted daughters baby-sitter, and she had no experience whatsoever at being a baby-sitter.

She had just… been so _good_ at it.

Immediately he had thought that she had been a perfect candidate when she had first came to the house for an interview. Few times had he seen her around the house, always just hanging around with InuYasha, his perverted friend, and their girlfriends. Once he had seen her before when InuYasha had graduated college, and he had to attend the ceremony with his father, when he had seen a girl in the crowd.

Of course, there had been hundreds of other girls in the crowd as well, because, after all, it was college graduation. But when InuYasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kikyo's names were called, she had been the one to cheer the loudest for her friends, despite the odd glances she was getting. Her sparkling brown eyes, and her fun and hyper attitude, she match Rin to a T.

Later, he had been introduced, however rudely, to her via InuYasha. She had smiled, and politely greeted his father and him. They had shaken hands, exchanged small pleasantries, and then they never saw each other again. Until she had taken the job, that is. And even though it was two years later, she was no different than before.

"Then what is it that you aspire to be?" He asked, truly interested in her answer for once.

"I… I… I want to be… I want to be an artist." She said proudly, spitting out a rock found in her mouth. "I want to sit in the park in an early morning, and watch as the people walk through it, getting a start on their day. I want to paint the world as it is, not how we want it to be. The lights of the city! The swift colors that flash as the traffic passes by! I want to show the world what it has come to, not what we want to see today!"

All he could do was nod, softly hitting Rin on the back to make sure all the water was out of her lungs. The young girl was still crying and hugging Kagome's waste, hanging on for dear life. She really did not want for Kagome to go, since the older girl was so nice, cheerful, and always fun. Kagome was prefect for the job.

How they had gotten so lucky to catch the girl in her unemployed state, needing a well-paying job and everything, willing to take care of a hyper, nine – _ten_ year old girl all day was unknown to them. And although at times she was too happy, and hyper and was somewhat rebellious, the good things outnumbered the bad by the hundreds. Plus, she made good cookies.

"I-is Kagome-chan g-going to leave Rin –_ me_ and Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin asked quietly, sitting in Sesshomaru's lap and staring up at the older girl with wide, fearful brown eyes that almost made Kagome melt with sadness. She shook her head.

"No, Rin-chan, I will not leave you. I won't leave you. Not ever." Kagome supplied, stumbling to her feet. The young girl smiled and tried to lunge for her again for another hug, but was held back by Sesshomaru as he shook his head no and whispered in her ear about Kagome needing some space to stand up by herself.

"Alright then! Come on, Rin-chan, we'll go get fixed up again and dried off as Sesshomaru handles this whole business!" The girls raced to the tall house, acting like nothing had even occurred, leaving behind a startled – although he didn't show it – Sesshomaru to clear away the mess of servants setting up the party that had joined around the group.

'_Yes, leave me with the hard job. If you haven't yet realized, I'm WET TOO!_' He shouted in his mind, none of the emotion breaking through his barrier. A few minutes of clearing away the commotion, and being asked more than a few times if he was alright, everyone was back to work and waiting for the party to begin at five.

_5:11 P.M, Tuesday, May Twenty-Seventh. (Taishou Summer 'Cottage')_

Relatives and friends were arriving at the door, walking through the house and out to the back where the party was being held, making sure to pinch Rin's cheeks on the way. Although it was painful and boring, the young girl had been taught to hold herself with confidence, not wince under the exceedingly annoying attention she was receiving, and keep her manners polite, greeting each one as they knocked on the front door.

She had dressed in a plain dark blue party dress that fell just above her knees, decorated with bows and ribbons galore. Although she couldn't match the nice long-sleeved red shirt and gauzy, knee-length black skirt Kagome-chan wore, she was sure to remain happy throughout the whole experience. After all, it was her birthday, and what better way to celebrate your own birthday than to have a party sponsored by Sesshomaru Taishou, your adoptive father, himself?

"Hello!"

"Nice of you to come!"

"Thank you so much!"

"I'm glad you found the travel here comfortable!"

The relatives and friends cooed over Rin and her good manners, bending over and pinching her cheeks until they were red with _not_ a natural blush. She held her smile, thanking them as they handed her a present, which she then handed to Kagome, who was standing beside her, who then in turn placed them on a large table in the living room.

"Rin!" Three voices cried simultaneously. Already everyone who had ever heard of them knew who it was. No one could ever forget a meeting with the terrible trio, especially since they used their grand entrances all the time. Kagome sighed, rubbed her head, and waited for a flurry of movement to show that the boys had arrived.

"Hey sis!" Kohaku and Souta greeted, while Shippou stood a ways behind and blushed when she looked at him.

"Hello Miss Kagome." He said politely, and she smiled. Souta and Kohaku made strange gagging noises, bending over and fake retching. Rin laughed, and gave them each a hug in turn.

"I'm surprised you didn't make a striking entrance, boys." Kagome smirked as they grinned sheepishly. Rin fake-pouted, seemingly upset that they didn't liven up her birthday party. She had expected more of them, after all.

"Ah well, we'll just have to hope there's something later." Kagome waved a hand to them and winked. "Come join us out back, you're just in time, boys. We were all just about to start on the early dinner."

She led the group of four children through the house and out the back door, letting Rin introduce the boys to the relatives and the relatives to the boys along the way. Some of them glared or gave them ugly looks, knowing that it was the three boys who had set off fireworks on top of the house at Rin's last birthday party, only to receive a deadly glare from Kagome, the older sister.

They ate a fanciful dinner full of rich flavored food, deliciously made in the summerhouse's kitchen by a famous, hired chef. There was enough of it for every single one of the fifty-eight people to have seconds, maybe thirds as well. Rin sat by Sesshomaru, Kagome next to Rin, InuYasha and their friends on the other side of Sesshomaru, and the three boys placed as far as possible from the older members of the family. They didn't want a repeat of two years ago…

After they ate the meal, the children raced off to play in the moon bounce Sesshomaru had bought for the party, and Kagome joined her friends while Sesshomaru spoke with his kin. She was surprised to see Kouga there as well, him and InuYasha not fighting.

"Hey guys! Hi Kouga!" She greeted them, sitting down on the bench in between Sango and Kikyo, who were both sitting next to their boyfriends. Kouga was leaning against the side of the table.

"Kagome-girl! Is your special present ready? Rin will be so happy!" Sango clasped her hands together, stars shining in her eyes as Kikyo nodded. InuYasha, Kouga, and Miroku looked at the oddly, as if they had each in turn grown a second head.

"I sure hope so. I'm still facing the consequences of staying up each night to finish it." Kagome replied. They spoke for a while, before Kagome became bored with the constant bickering between Sango and Miroku, and left to join Sesshomaru, who was all alone at the moment.

"So." She found that there was nothing really to say.

"Yes…"

"SESSHOMARU, M'BOY!" A voice cried out.

"Father…"

"Is this fabulous lady beside you your new wife?" The whole party froze.

* * *

I'm sorry it took so long to update, but school started again, and winter break ended.

I'm sorry to say that updates won't be as frequent because of school. Maybe once a week or less.

I missed four weeks of school because of my depression, and now I need to catch up.

Rin's birthday is that same as mine (May Twenty-Seventh). Please enjoy, and review as well, love, Cat.


	6. The Party

One Last Summer

Chapter Six

_5:56 P.M, Tuesday, May Twenty-Seventh. (Taishou Summer 'Cottage')_

'_W-w-WIFE?_' Kagome choked on her own spit as the breath was sucked out of her lungs. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes, but looked at Kagome to see what her reaction was. A blush was lit on her face, and her eyes seemed to be popping out of her face strangely.

"Hello, father…" Sesshomaru greeted him, looking away from Kagome's face.

"So, Sessho, is this your wife, or is it not?" Mr. Taishou had a huge grin on his face at seeing the choking, embarrassed look on Kagome's face. He walked over to her and hit her on the back softly; successfully knocking the spit she was choking on out of her as well as the breath.

"N-NO!" Kagome gasped, her friends rushing over to check up on her. While Sango and Kikyo hovered over the gasping girl worriedly, Miroku was chuckling, Kouga was glaring, and Sesshomaru was staring impassively at the sky, while InuYasha was just laughing his butt off, rolling on the ground.

"No father, this is not my wife. I do not have a wife, as I've told you a multitude of times before." His father grinned at him as he looked distastefully at Kagome, who was trying her hardest not to drop dead of embarrassment. Suddenly it was too hard for the pair, as Sango and Miroku burst out laughing, surprising Kikyo as they fell to the ground.

Kagome sat there on the ground, cross-legged, not really seeing or feeling anything around her. Every so often, the girl would twitch, usually above her eye, on her forehead, or just her thumb on her left hand. That was a strange one. And if one wants an explanation, well… there is none. So don't expect one, because it won't happen. Nope.

InuYasha was red with laughter, and had to hold his stomach for fear it would snap in some way by laughing so hard. Everyone thought that he was laughing at Kagome, since she was the most embarrassed one. He wasn't laughing at her.

Throughout the twenty-four, going on twenty-five years he had known his older brother, never had the man been so embarrassed in his life.

To see his older brother so flustered was like… Christmas in the middle of July. It would definitely hold him off until then. InuYasha knew what went on with Sesshomaru and how he acted; living with Sesshomaru that large amount of years had at least _one_ advantage.

The way that Sesshomaru wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, or the tired look that appeared on his face as he stood staring up into the sky, it was a dead give away that the man was embarrassed. _Real_ embarrassed. But something struck InuYasha as odd as his peels of laughter subsided into a few chuckles every now and then, as he rolled on the ground, efficiently embarrassing his girlfriend, Kikyo.

Mr. Taishou himself was shaking with silent laughter, aware of his oldest son's discomfort as much as InuYasha was. The traumatized girl sitting on the ground, though, was a whole other story. He hated to think that he himself had caused her so much grief that she was _traumatized_.

She was a beauty, a real catch. She looked just like his wife did when she was embarrassed. The similarities were endless. The long black hair, although this girl's was tinted more of a blue than a brown, and the sweet chocolate eyes. Their builds were similar, too. If his wife was as young as the girl sitting before him, then they would definitely fit the same size. Sesshomaru glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye, sighing as he saw stars in them.

But was it really that bad to have someone thinking you were married to Sesshomaru? Who could be a better candidate – better yet, a better husband than Sesshomaru?

Okay, maybe there was the problem that it seemed like his heart was just about as cold as the North Pole, but that wasn't true. Well, it kind of was, but only to people that he didn't like or know personally. Which was a lot of people. Then there was the problem that he never seemed to open up or share his feelings, but the same rules apply as before. It was only to people he didn't like or know!

Sesshomaru had the looks, the brains, the connections, and the money, too! He had everything a girl wanted, including the adorable adopted child he raised alone and as his own. He could give a girl anything she needed! Sesshomaru was in the top three richest men in Japan, one of the top five in the _world_. Even though he needn't go to work for one day more in his life ever again, since he already had all the money to support himself, he was determined.

And did we forget that long, silky hair?

Mr. Taishou almost pouted when he looked back at the traumatized figure twitching on the ground. Clearly she was not among the richest of people here, let alone rich at all. But by the way Rin had ran over and cuddled with the girl and asking her if she was okay, she seemed pretty important in their life.

"What, is my boy Sesshomaru _not good enough _for you?" He asked her, and she turned blank eyes on him. Suddenly, she was brought back to the living world as InuYasha burst into another round of rib-cracking laughter as Sesshomaru almost actually _blushed_. Although, almost was a key word there.

"No, no, no, no, no! You've got it all wrong, Mr. Taishou sir!" Kagome cried, jumping to her feet and blushing madly. Mr. Taishou smirked; at least she had the decency to blush crazily, and wave her arms around in the air like a mad woman. She had the energy someone perfect for Sesshomaru should have… He liked this girl…

"Father…"

"HAH! Sesshomaru and Kagome? TOGETHER? That's like putting a flower with an igloo and seeing what their children would be like!" InuYasha cackled, laughing his head off, and once again falling to the ground. All that effort in trying to stand up was useless as he kept laughing… Kikyo was beyond embarrassed.

"I can imagine their children would be of black hair and golden eyes, or of silver hair and blue-grey eyes… they would have the most beautiful faces, and the girls would have the delicious curves of Kagome-san, while the _boys_ would –"

"MIROKU!" He was cut off as Sango hit him in the back of his head with her shiny black purse that had sparkles. Rin was instantly attracted to the purse with shiny sparkles, since, well, this was Rin, and Rin liked shiny things… Miroku fell to the ground with spinning eyes, next to the ever-red InuYasha.

"Father…"

"So you're not married? No children? Then how is it that Rin looks remarkably just like this lady here?" Mr. Taishou motioned towards Kagome, who had changed positions and was currently debating whether to beat the pulp out of Miroku as the pervert ranted about what Sesshomaru's and Kagome's future bathroom would look like, or to kick the laughing InuYasha. She decided upon both.

"… And there would be a pretty little counter where …ow… the children would put their own toiletries, although they would have their …ow… own _set_ of bathrooms, and a magnificent tub the size of small …ow… car that would have a fabulous …ow… view of the ocean …ow… and the two would sit in it and watch the sunset while rubbing ea –" The description stopped as one last kick rendered him unconscious.

A kick to an unnamed spot was all it took to get InuYasha to stop laughing, as he now had to moan and groan in pain while holding the sore spot. Kikyo huffed and said something along the lines of 'You deserved it…' while Kagome brushed off her clothes and Sango explained the use of eyeliner to Rin.

"It's just a coincidence that Rin and I look alike. I'm just the baby-sitter, and a friend to InuYasha, Kikyo, Sango and Miroku. I went to college with them." Kagome finished, a sheepish smile on her face. She glanced at Sesshomaru out of the corner of her eye every once in a while, waiting for his reaction.

"Ah yes, I remember you well now! You were the girl InuYasha introduced us to, the one Kouga has a 'crush' on." Mr. Taishou grinned as Kouga just puffed out his chest proudly, trying to impress Kagome. Too bad she wasn't even looking in his direction.

"Yes! But now I am Rin's personally baby-sitter!" Kagome said. "Although, lately it seems as if I'm more than just a baby-sitter…" She started. She saw the perverted smile on the now awake Miroku's face. "Not like that! I JUST MEANT AS IF I WAS A MAID OR SOMETHING! YOU PERVERT!" She continued to chase him around the table, trying to beat the pulp out of him at the same time.

"Is this the same Miroku you boys grew up with?" He asked Sesshomaru and InuYasha. They nodded.

"What was I getting myself into when I introduced you to the neighbors? I should have just locked you up in the house like your mother said to!" Mr. Taishou cried dramatically, bringing the back of his hand up to his forehead with fake exhaustion, pretending to faint.

"Sango-chan? What is this?" Rin brought her small hand out of Sango's purse, holding up a thin, packaged something labeled 'TAMPON'. Miroku jumped over the table and ran up to them, panting.

"I'll explain this one…" He panted, and prepared to run again, but it was too late.

"YOU PERVERT!" Sango and Kagome cried at the same time, each of them bashing him atop the head, producing two large bumps.

_8:34 P.M, Tuesday, May Twenty-Seventh. (Taishou Summer 'Cottage')_

Everyone left at the party, which was not a lot since many relatives had left to go back to their hotels, sat around the large living room, on either the couches, the chairs, or just the soft-carpeted ground. A large pile of presents stood in the center of the room, while four children watched it with wide, starry eyes.

Once everyone was settled down into their own comfy spot, Rin slowly reaching out and grabbed the smallest present – a tiny orange box accompanied by a bright, red ribbon tied into a bow. Carefully she untied the bow and unwrapped the box, not ripping any piece of the wrapping paper. Slowly she lifted the gift out of the box, and held it up to show everyone. A small, silver necklace that had little blue gems on it, from Souta. Rin hugged and thanked him.

Over and over Rin opened her gifts slowly, grabbing the smallest ones, and then carefully opening them. She received a matching bracelet from Kohaku, and more than a pound of chocolate from Shippou. Sango and Miroku gave her a large stuffed animal that would go great with the collection she already had, and InuYasha and Kikyo gave her some tickets to an opera of some sort.

'_Who would give a kid opera tickets!_' Kagome thought, watching as Rin pretended to act excited. If it wasn't just her eyes, it actually looked like Rin _was_ excited…

"Time to open my gift!" Mr. Taishou said, handing Rin a large box.

Slowly and carefully, as always, Rin unraveled the bright blue bow that was tied on the large box, and took off the lid of the box.

Inside the box was… another box.

Inside that one was another, smaller box.

And another, smaller box.

And another.

And another.

And another.

The anticipation in the room was growing thick as Rin neared the smallest possible box, one that was only the size of half her palm. Cautiously she opened the box, and peered in under the lid to see if it was another box, or if it was actually the gift.

Kagome watched with eagerness, Mr. Taishou was full out grinning like a mad man, while Kikyo was poking a snoring InuYasha, and Sango slapped away Miroku's hand that was inching closer and closer to her rear. Sesshomaru stood off to the side some ways, talking ever so softly into a thin cellular phone. Shippou, Kohaku and Souta watched, standing next to Rin, trying to peek into the box over Rin's shoulder, but she turned away from them.

The young girl cheered with joy as she jumped up from her sitting position on the ground and into the air, running over and hugging Mr. Taishou. She danced around the room, twirling, as the three boys chased behind her, trying to see what the gift was and if it was something that they might want. Want to share with Rin, that is…

Rin jumped over to where Kagome was sitting on a comfortable chair, and held the gift up into the older girl's face so she could see it. All except Rin, Mr. Taishou, InuYasha and Sesshomaru looked confused. Rin was holding up a small, plastic, toy cruise ship about the size of her thumb. A resound 'huh?' traveled around the room as Kagome looked at the toy cruise ship in front of her.

"That's… nice…" She said awkwardly, and – if it was possible – Mr. Taishou's grin widened.

"We are going on a cruise!" Rin cried, jumping up and down. Smiles lit up on the faces of all in the room, as they understood what the cruise ship stood for. Rin burst into explanation of how her grandfather, Mr. Taishou, always used to buys her small things that signified larger things, like the small cruise ship signified that the gift was actually a large cruise.

"That's great, Rin-chan! You're going on a cruise!" Kagome cheered, smiling down at the girl. The older girl pulled her into a hug.

"Nuhuh…" Everyone in the room turned to stare at Rin as she shook her head from side to side.

'_But… didn't she just say…_'

"I am not going on a cruise. _We_ are going on a cruise!" Rin cheered, running around the room again. Kagome sit shock still on her seat, the color dripping out of her face as fast as one could blink.

"Isn't it great, sis?" Souta beamed at his older sister, practically smirking at the thought of going on a cruise with his best friends, and his cool older sister.

Once they all settled down, Sango spoke up. "Hey Kagome-chan, did you give Rin her gift yet?" A surprised look appeared on Kagome's face, as she hurriedly ran upstairs to get her gift. She came back down was a large, thin parcel under her arm, about the length of Rin herself.

Placing it on the ground, the parcel leaned against the wall, covered by a thin, dark purple sheet. The older girl motioned toward it as the younger one watched with wide eyes.

"And the unveiling of Rin-chan's – personally made – gift!" She tore the sheet off, only to have almost everyone in the room gasp.

In front of Rin lay a beautiful portrait that had been hand drawn and hand painted by the great artist Kagome herself. The picture included every person in the room, and ranging from some not in the room as well. Rin squealed, clapped her hands, and ran up to the picture to get a better look at each and every one of the characters portrayed in it.

On the far left was Inu No Taishou, dressed in old-style clothing with spiky armor and strange markings on his face. Next to him, on his left, was his deceased wife Izayoi in a light pink and green kimono. Then came InuYasha, dressed in all red hakamas and haori, and then Kikyo dressed in red hakamas, like InuYasha's, and a long, bell-sleeved white haori.

On the far right stood Kouga, in all his glory, hands on his hips and dressed in something akin to a mini skirt. Made of animal furs… Next to him stood Jaken, dressed in all brown, looking more and more like a toad than ever before. Then stood Miroku, dressed in violet and black monk's robes, and then Sango, dressed in a tight black body suit with hot pink armor.

In front of Sango and Miroku sat Souta and Kohaku, dressed alike in an old fashioned blue clothes, while a slightly – by about three feet – shorter Shippou sat on InuYasha's shoulder dressed in short pants, a shirt, and a vest, looking like a small little animal with bushy red hair and huge aqua eyes.

In the middle stood Sesshomaru, looking impassive and stoic, his armor almost an exact replica of his father's, except for the fact that it only covered one shoulder. Next to him stood Kagome, dressed like Kikyo, except her hakamas were dark blue, and her haori was a pale silver-grey. Rin sat smiling in a bright orange and yellow kimono at Kagome's and Sesshomaru's feet, holding a ring of yellow flowers happily as she gazed out at them from the picture.

"Whoa…" InuYasha whispered, looking at all of the people in the picture, looking at each of their faces, seeing as they matched up perfectly with the real life version.

Each of the characters had a weapon of some sort, ranging from Mr. Taishou's, InuYasha's, and Sesshomaru's sword and Miroku's staff, to Kagome and Kikyo's bows and Sango's giant boomerang. Kohaku held a sickle of some sort, while Souta had a staff with a blade at the end. Shippou held some sort of leaf, but it didn't exactly seem like it could do much damage.

"I remember! From the history class we all took in college!" Sango cried. The four others – Kikyo, Miroku, InuYasha, and Kagome – reminisced of the time they all shared a history class, and the one history project where they all had to choose a character to be.

InuYasha, the dramatic yet rude hero. Kikyo, the helping miko who walked the land of the living as a corpse. Miroku, the perverted monk who had a black hole in his right hand. Sango, the slayer that was out for revenge against the one that murdered her village. Kagome, the inexperienced miko who traveled alongside them, introducing the group to new things all of the time.

"Kagome-chan, you made this just for Rin?" The young girl grinned, hugging Kagome's legs. She nodded, and the younger girl cheered once more.

"You are a great artist, Kagome-san!" Miroku added.

"You are so great!" Sango offered.

"Yeah, it's okay." Kagome said modestly. "I like the way your slayer suit came out, Sango." She said, smiling at the older girl.

"I like it too…" Miroku said, smiling perversely until Sango yelled and hit him on the head. Not long after, Kikyo and InuYasha burst into argument about something or other as Rin and the three boys ran around the room. Sesshomaru stood off to one side, talking quietly to his father, while Kagome just watched it all tiredly.

The sound of the doorbell ringing echoed through the house, but being closest to the door, Kagome guessed that only she could hear it over the clamor. She exited the room unnoticed, walking off to go answer the door.

Her shrill scream stopped the words in everyone's mouth.

* * *

I'm terribly sorry for the long wait.

I'll give you an excuse… when I find one.

I know it's short, I'm sorry, and I know it's late, and I'm still sorry.

Please review; the next chapter will have more excitement, I promise, love, Cait.


	7. The Sleep

One Last Summer

Chapter Seven

_2:56 P.M, Friday, May Thirtieth. (Taishou Manor)_

It had taken a total of three hours in the shower to get the honey out of her hair. A total of seven hours before she finally forgave Souta, Kohaku, and Shippou for rigging up the door to pour honey on the first person who opened it. The three had also fixed the doorbell to ring at exactly eight fifty-five, to which they claimed they had forgotten, and not heard it as it rung. And hour of tickle-torture was all it took for them to confess they had heard it perfectly.

Today was a day where they sat and did nothing, waiting for Sesshomaru to get home from work to go out to dinner. The three days spent at the summer 'cottage' had been relaxing and well spent, although the last two days were spent worrying if or not they would be bathed in honey…

"Kagome-chan?" A soft, tentative voice whispered.

The dark comfort of the blankets was enticing and alluring, and Kagome was tempted to drift off into a soft doze. Everything was peaceful, quiet, as not even a mouse made a sound. Why and how there would be a mouse in Sesshomaru's house, Kagome did not know, since she experienced firsthand that an exterminator came every other Monday to check the house.

"Kagome…" The voice whispered, calling out to her again, but she took no notice.

After the millions of gifts Rin received, and after the hours of opening them, they had finally had a chance to go home and get back to work. Sesshomaru had left early in the morning, before Kagome had even gotten there. Rin had said that he was eager to get back to work, wanting to get the extra work done that he had missed when they had gone to the summerhouse.

She had gotten there bright and early, even before Rin had awoke. Which was a lot to say, with the fact that Rin almost always awoke when Sesshomaru was getting ready for work. With the time to spare, she had helped the kitchen cook make breakfast, helped organize the stack of DVD's in the den, and made Sesshomaru's bed before eight, when the maids usually came.

Hearing the voice call out to her once more, Kagome pulled the soft, down covers over her head to block out the invaded noise. She felt the edge of the bed she was lying on sag at the end, indicating that someone else was on it. The soft patter of feet was heard, and the end of the large, fluffy bed sagged down even more as Kagome sensed them coming closer. Just as they were about to rip the covers off of her, she popped out.

"Boo!"

The ten and eleven year olds screamed, diving for the end of the bed, covering themselves with another blanket. They had thought her asleep, while she had just been waiting for the right moment. Although, she had barely gotten any sleep with the celebration of Sango and Kikyo. Those girls went crazy when their favorite nighttime TV show was on.

Yawning, Kagome tugged the rest of the covers off of her body, and reached down to the four lumps on the end of the bed that were giggling. Like a predator, she crawled on her hands and knees towards her prey, silently and gracefully. Spontaneously she lunged between them, careful not to break any small limbs, reaching out and grabbing two of the lumps, while the other two darted out form under the blanket and made a run for it.

"Help!" Rin and Kohaku choked out, calling to the other two as they were tickled. Souta and Shippou peeked out from around the doorway, and crept forward on their hands and knees seeing that Kagome was too busy tickling the other two to notice them.

Crying out in the best battle cry they could, the two boys pounced on the older girl, Souta opting for attacking his sister while Shippou went to rescue Kohaku and Rin. Kagome dodged Souta's tickling hands, rolling off the bed and hitting the thick-carpeted floor with a resound thump.

"You'll never get me!" Kagome cried as she hopped to her feet and ran out of the room, the four children chasing her. Zigzagging through the long hallways of the Taishou Manor, their cries echoed throughout the house. The older girl ran until she reached a dead end, with only one door as an option. Quickly she opened it and crept inside, leaving it ajar behind her. Flipping the light switch, she was almost blinded by the bright lights.

"Whoa..." was all she could say before the slam of the door was heard behind her. Whipping around she faced the four children, one with a huge smirk on her face, while the other three were just about as amazed as her.

They were inside a huge indoor poolroom, and Kagome was standing just on the edge of the pool. The lights that had temporarily blinded her weren't just artificial lights. No, they weren't artificial at all. It was all-natural lighting, which meant the whole building, besides the wall with the doorway which they had just came through, was windows. Even the ceiling was made of windows. The "light switch" she had flipped was only a switch to flip the blinds. Tentatively walking up and rapping on one of them, Kagome discovered they were normal, bulletproof glass.

'_Wait… bulletproof? Since when are bullet-proof windows normal?_'

Scratching her head, she was too absorbed in her thoughts and didn't notice the children as they crept up to her. With one large shove, she was pushed into the pool, her scream brought to an abrupt stop when the water seeped into her lungs. Bubbles arose from the bright blue water where her body had just splashed through.

They waited for her to resurface. Slowly the bubbles stopped coming up from under the water and they saw her body begin to unwind. Her hair spiraled out around her, and her lips were parted. The color had seeped out of her face, as she faced towards the ceiling with closed eyes. The four heard a servant enter the room, and look down into the pool where they were looking. The servant – identified as a maid by its feminine voice – screamed.

_3:34 P.M, Friday, May Thirtieth. (Taishou Corporation, Tokyo Office)_

An annoying ringing was interrupting his afternoon nap… It wasn't often that he, Sesshomaru, the sole most civilized person in the world, took a nap in the middle of the day, but he had had a hard few days lately. With all the piles of work that were stacked up on his desk, and the literally fifty-seven messages for business meetings left on his answering machine, who wouldn't be?

"Sesshomaru-sama?" He heard the soft voice of his secretary call from the doorway to his office.

"What is it?" He asked coldly.

"There's a phone call for you on line two." He didn't answer her, but instead picked up the phone, taking his feet off his desk. It also wasn't usual for someone to catch him off guard as his secretary had just then, in the middle of his nap. He was disorganized, his golden eyes filled with sleep.

Overall, his hair was messed up.

"Yes?"

…

"And why, Jaken, would you interrupt me at a precious time like this?" Naptime is a very special time of day, after all…

…

"What?"

…

The phone clattered to the floor as he jumped up from his comfortable, spinning chair, leaving a befuddled secretary behind to deal with the stacks of files on his desk.

_12:01 P.M, Wednesday, June** Fourth**. (Tokyo University Hospital)_

She sat by the bedside of her unconscious friend, clutching the younger girl's hand in her own. The steady beep of the machine she was hooked up to, that made sure her heart was still beating and alive, was getting annoying after five days. Each day she had visited her friend, hoping that the day would be the day that she would awaken, but would always be sent home hoping that tomorrow would be the day she woke up.

It had been five days since Sango first saw her friend lying in the hospital bed, all tucked in with pristine white sheets, IV's hooked up to her, and a nutrients machine clipped up as well. She broke down into tears at the sight of her friend, her best friend, lying in the bed, oblivious to everything else, as they watched her sleep.

At least they liked to call it sleep. In a coma, you never really know if you sleep with dreamless peace, or are tossing in turmoil over the thoughts. It would be an endless dream, where the nightmare would never end. Longer than any nightmare they'd ever had before, this one would go one forever. Or, at least until the plug was pulled, and she would be forced to survive off her own consummation.

Which would not be possible, because she was unconscious.

Sesshomaru had taken immediate action and sent her to the best doctor there was in all of Japan, even taking time to search for an even better one on the web in China. Kagome was hooked up to the latest machines that kept her alive. It was what she deserved.

They had all cried tears of joy when the doctor announced that she was breathing on her own. That meant that there was a chance that she would wake up soon. Each day Sango sat by her bed, holding her friend's limp hand in her own warm one, trying to find just one small twitch that would show that Kagome was conscious.

Kikyo could only visit every so often, and when the older girl did, it was always alone, at night, when no one else was around to see her cry. Kikyo hated it when people saw her weaknesses, because she thought that they all saw her as weak. And to show them another weakness, would make her even weaker, so she always hid her feelings deep down inside of her.

InuYasha visited as frequently as he could, which wasn't so frequent, because of his demanding job, He tried his hardest to get there, to be the first one in the day to sit there and hold her hand.

To him, Kagome was like a younger sister, and he was the older brother, and so he felt it was up to him to protect her. When she first fell under the wrath of addictive video games back in college, he was the one to tell her to get out of the house and into the sun. Of course, back then, he himself was a video game addict, and was a complete hypocrite by telling her what to do.

It was the thought that counted, though.

Miroku tried to visit whenever Sango visited, for fear that his brown-haired beauty would break down, and no one would be there for her. He was the only one of the group, besides Sesshomaru, that had not cried in public. Even InuYasha had done so. Keade, the older lady that took care of Souta, Shippou, and Kohaku, had visited to see her granddaughter, and took a moment of time to cry.

It was just the way that Kagome lay there, so peacefully, so quietly, so unaware to the pain she was causing around her.

Everyone tried to get there the earliest in the group, trying to be the first in the day to hold her hand. It was as if that by holding her hands, they felt like they were guiding her through her turmoil of dreams, helping her find the light again.

It was also like that holding her hand was the only connection they could have with her now, even though her hands were limp and cold and she didn't know what was happening. The only way they were sure she would awake from her coma. A hard knock to the head had led to a serious concussion, where she blacked out for a moment. But then she never awoke. They labeled her in a coma, as the clipboard at the end of her bed said.

"Are you alright?" Sango turned her head around to see the nervous face of a young nurse, who was looking at her oddly.

She realized that there were tears dripping down her face, no doubt smearing her eyeliner and other make up. Sango tried wiping it on her sleeve, but it didn't work as well as she had planned, and ended up just smearing it a bit more than it was before. She sniffled.

"I'm fine." The older girl replied, wiping her face on her sleeve once again.

"Are you sure?" The nurse asked, in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Yes! I'm sure! Just leave me alone, alright?" The nurse quickly left the room in a rapid shuffled, her high-heeled shoes clicking as she walked down the tiled white hallways.

Never would they leave her alone. For days the nurses, doctors, and even social workers had come up to her, no matter where she was, and asked her the same question. Sango was positive that she had been asked the same questions by the same person multiple times, and they just never got the message.

There was no one that could ever understand what it was like the have your friend in a coma. It wouldn't seem that hard, since all it seems they're doing is sleeping. They're not drifting in and out of critical or uncritical condition, and they're not dangerously losing the breath in their lungs. It's hard… only because you see their body… lying there… but still they're not really _there_.

Their body is there, but their mind is not. Where their mind is, no one but those in a coma know, and half the time they don't even remember that they've been in a coma, or what they'd done to get into a coma. Sango would try to ask Kagome one day, ask her if she felt something while in her endless dreaming state…

For now, though, Sango, and all the others, would have to be content that she was breathing, because, according to what the doctors said, Kagome would not be waking up. At least, not for a while.

_4:19 P.M, Wednesday, June Fourth. (Tokyo University Hospital)_

In all his eleven and a quarter years of life, he had never experienced something like this. And never, in all his eleven and a quarter years of life, did he ever want to again.

It wasn't just that it was partway his fault that she was like this, but it was also that she was his _sister_, and a part of his mind _told_ him that it was all his fault. He felt as if that if he didn't hold her hand whenever she could, he would come back one day, and she wouldn't be where she had been for the past five days of her oblivious life.

The older kids took pity on Souta, Rin, Kohaku, and Shippou. Just because they had been there, experienced Kagome almost drowning, and hitting her head and going into a coma, it was automatically worse for them. That wasn't the deal. It was worse for them because they had been the ones that knocked her into the pool.

The younger kids didn't understand what it meant when the bubbles stop rising to the top of the water. They didn't understand what it meant when she stopped moving under the water, and stopped trying to reach the surface. They didn't understand what the blood that seeped out of the cut she received when she hit her head on the side of the pool meant, either.

Most of all, they didn't understand that there was a chance, a sure chance, that she would never wake up.

_1:35 A.M, Thursday, June **Fifth**. (Tokyo University Hospital)_

Unlike all the others, he didn't hold her hand. He didn't sit beside her bed on the chair that had been specially placed for them to sit, and he didn't tuck her back perfectly into the immaculately white blankets when the nurses disregarded to make her as comfortable as she could be. He didn't brush the loose strand of hair away from her face, or watch her chest rise and fall as she breathed.

He didn't stare at her like all the others.

There was no guilt in his conscious for what had happened. After all, it wasn't his fault she had been in the room, and the children had tripped her, and that she had hit her head on the side of the pool as she went down. He had placed her in the best room, with the best doctors and nurses to take care of her, leaving the visiting hours open to all times so that she would be able to be visited by her friends.

Although, there was something tugging at him.

It was a bland numbing, tugging at his internal organs, making them toss and turn each time he was around her. He came to check on her every night, around the time when the only people in the hospital were the patients, and the night workers. He liked it now, when there was no one around to see his frozen exterior melting, to show the kind sadness in his eyes as he stared at her.

Not that he realized it, of course.

But often his eyes portrayed the feelings his words and actions often didn't. The way he looked at Rin, as a daughter, like she was the only thing of importance left in his life. His father was well, and okay by being alone. His brother… well, InuYasha was InuYasha, and rarely did he care about InuYasha. But Rin was his daughter, the one who depended on him to protect her.

Then there was Kagome.

Brought into his life by the urgent need for a baby-sitter, Kagome was an exception to the rule about no caring about strangers. After all, Rin loved the older girl, who acted more like a child than anything, and so what Rin wanted, Rin got. Since Rin seemed so openly loving and caring with the older girl, he himself had to accept her as well, but not only for Rin's reasons.

There was also the reason that deep, deep down, part of him liked Kagome.

Not in the way you're thinking, of course.

At least, not yet.

_7:58 A.M, Tuesday, June **Seventeenth**. (Taijiya Dojo)_

The phone rang, and cautiously she picked it up. Setting it against her ear and holding it with her shoulder, she began to write down the appointments for the day.

"Miroku, if this is just another one of your perverted phone stories –"

…

"Oh! Doctor Takeda! What a pleasure –"

…

"Are you sure, today?"

…

"I'll be there soon."

…

"Have the others been notified?"

…

"Alright. Thank Doctor."

Cancel all appointments for Tuesday, June Seventeenth.

_10:27 A.M, Tuesday, June Seventeenth. (Tokyo University Hospital)_

Groggy brown eyes slid open with a groan. She blinked as bright lights blared down at her from the ceiling, trying to brush them away with a wave of her hand. Her hand didn't react well to the sudden action. Hissing in pain, she slowly lifted her arm up to her face.

It was pale, like it hadn't seen the sun for weeks.

Unknowingly, it actually hadn't. She felt someone lift her up, so that she was sitting up, her back against a soft pillow. Blinking to clear her eyes, she tried to get a good look at all the colorful blurs around her. Were they… were they spinning?

'_No… that's just my eyes… right?_'

"Kagome?" She heard a soft voice call out. "Are you alright?"

Was there someone else in the room that the person was talking to? Surely it couldn't be her, since her name was certainly not Kagome… at least, she didn't think it was… no, it had to be that there was someone else in the room. With all the colorful, spinning blobs, it was possible that even though they were all standing around her own bed, that the question was directed to someone else.

Slowly, her vision cam back to her. She recognized the blobs as three men, one with violet eyes and dark hair, the other two with silver hair and golden eyes. The tallest of the men, one with straight silver hair and cold golden eyes, seemed more mature and refined, while the other two openly showed their emotions.

There were two women, one with brown hair and watery eyes, while the other had dark brown, almost black hair with a dullish-brown color eyes. There were four children in the room, one girl with brown hair and brown eyes, while two boys had dark hair and brown eyes as well. One, the taller, had freckles. The last boy had bright red hair and seemingly aqua eyes.

"Kagome?" The one, now distinguished as the woman with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing pink eye shadow, asked her.

Yes, they were talking to her.

'_Do… do I know them? They don't seem familiar… I can't remember them at all…_'

"Kagome, are you alright?"

"No… no I'm not. I'm not Kagome, and I'm not alright."

* * *

This chapter is for all you that have been in a coma, or have a loved one in a coma that have or have not woken up.

It's just to let you know that others out there, like myself, know how it feels. It's always worse than you think.

Thanks for the love and appreciation, sorry for the grammar. I'm looking for a beta.

Contact me through E-mail please if you can beta for me. Thanks, lots of love, Cait.


	8. The Stilllife

One Last Summer

Chapter Eight

_9:12 A.M, Thursday, June Nineteenth. (Nagorioshii Tsuji)_

She watched as the other cars traveling in other directions flew by her window. It only seemed so much faster, since they were going the other way than the ones that were passing. The radio fizzed in and out of focus, sometimes consumed by static, and other time playing cheesy music about bleeding hearts. The musical world today has come to crap…

All she could do was stare out the window, watching the pedestrians when the car came to a red light. They never glanced at her, sitting in the backseat of a bright red car with faded leather interior, her confused eyes staring out at them. Her eyes begged for help, help for the knowledge she didn't have. Inconspicuously, she tucked the edge of her black, knee-length skirt in tighter, feeling naked without the long, white hospital gown adorning her body.

The mindless chatter of the two in the front seat, identified as Sango and Miroku, was not something she was listening to anymore. At first she had tried her best to pay attention, but when they go into details about Kouga – whoever that was – and his obsession with someone named Kagome…

'_Wait… my name is Kagome…_'

It was hard to remember that. Often times, they would call her name for minutes at a time, and she wouldn't answer. The name just seemed so foreign on her tongue, just like all these other people she just met. They didn't seem familiar; like she had heard them before and couldn't place them… she didn't know them.

'_Kagome is my old name… I guess… but I don't have a new one…_'

Hearing a loud slap echo through the car, she looked to the front seat, where a fuming… uh, _Sango_, yes it was _Sango_… glared at the driver, who she remembered was named… uh… Roku? No, Miku? Something like that, really, she didn't care one bit.

Sango muttered something along the lines of 'bloody pervert,' as the driver… whose name is still unremembered, now had a red mark on the side of his face. Sighing, she turned away from them, and looked back out the window. She thought she saw one of the pedestrians glance her, look back to where he was walking, and then glance back, trying to get another glimpse of her face, but by then they had driven far away. His long braid swished in the wind as he pondered whether that really was _Kagome_, or if it wasn't.

'_Kagome was never so sad, though… _' Were his thoughts.

'_He looked like he knew me…_' Were her thoughts.

_10:07 A.M, Thursday, June Nineteenth. (Keade's Cottage)_

After what felt like a thousand hours, the car pulled onto some shady streets of the suburbs, and off of the busy main roads of Tokyo. She sighed again, but made it quietly for the others not to hear her. They pulled into a driveway that led to a small, homey cottage with a nice, bright garden out front.

Just as she stepped out of the car, and without a chance to look around, three kids attached themselves to her hips, crying calls of "sis," and "Kagome". She looked down at them strangely, and awkwardly patted them each on the head. They looked up at her, then at Sango and Miroku, who had strained smiles on their faces, but their eyes held pain.

"Sis?" One of them asked her, and she recognized him as one who was called Sputa or something…

"Um… My name is…"

'_Kagome! They say my name is Kagome…_'

"Kagome. I know. I am… Souta… and you are my sister." He said, tears growing in his large, chocolate-y brown eyes. Quickly he whipped around, and ran back into the house, slamming the door behind him. The other boys watched him, and sighed.

"I'm Kohaku… Sango's younger brother… but we're like family, so sometimes I call you sis too." The one with the freckles spoke. He was taller than _Souta_, and had longer hair. She nodded and looked towards the tallest of the boys, one with red hair and bright blue-ish aqua eyes.

"My name is Shippou." A cold look laced his eyes, and Kagome couldn't tell if it was directed at her, or if he always looked like that.

"Hello… Kohaku… Shippou…" There was nothing else to say.

"We should go inside, there's no doubt Keade has prepared a nice brunch for us." Sango said, walking up the path that led to the front door of the cottage, grabbing her elbow and leading her there on the way. Kohaku, Shippou, and the perverted, unnamed driver followed behind them.

"Welcome, child." An elder lady with grey hair and an eye patch spoke to the girls as they entered, and led them to a large table. They all took a seat, only to realize that the boy, Souta, was gone. Softly the old woman sighed, but grabbed the pot of tea and served them.

After a plate of brunch and tea, the group sat around the table, idly chatting. She sat there and watched them as they conversed, like old friends. They probably were. She had not been introduced to the old lady; apparently they had just assumed she knew who the lady was. It was possible, that in the life where she knew their names, that she did know them. But now, in this life, in this world, she didn't.

_12:40 P.M, Thursday, June Nineteenth. (Keade's Cottage)_

For a while she had watched them chat, waiting patiently and not saying one word. She stared straight ahead, out the window, despite the feeling of eyes glaring holes in her head. She had given up trying to listen hours ago, not noticing the subject had now changed to her, as they talked in hushed whispers.

Shippou and Kohaku had left the table a while ago, no doubt going to find their friend, rather than sit and wait. Casually she sipped her tea, flavored with mint and cream and honey, watching as a bright blue bird flew past the window she was looking out. Taking her gaze off the outside, she observed the patch over the old woman's eye, observed the ponytail at the back of the pervert's head, and the pink eye shadow Sango wore everyday.

They told her she had lost her memory, after being in a coma for almost three weeks. The doctors said that it would come back soon, and that she had to stay in the hospital for tests, but then she could go out and act normal. Did they really expect her to act normal? How was she supposed to, when they all acted normal around her, calling her name out and speaking phrases like "Remember that time when…" No, she didn't remember.

It seemed like nothing in their world had changed, except for when they looked at her. She could sense their eyes on the back of her head, and would turn back to look at them. Though, they stared at her with warmth and love, which was something she couldn't remember. She would always stare back at them with cold, unemotional eyes, and they would turn away with the thought 'Oh yeah, she lost her memory'.

There were still places she had to go today, as Sango and the pervert said. She still couldn't remember his name. Pervert fit just fine in her book, though.

It was all easy enough to remember. Sango: the tough, kind lady who was supposedly _Kagome's_ best friend. Labeled as _Pinky_, for the pink eye shadow she always wore. Uh… the pervert that drove the car: Pervert, very perverted man that has nice, pretty indigo eyes. The lady whose house they were at: no name, not introduced to her yet. Serves good tea.

InuYasha: the mean, rough and tough bully who acted as an older brother. Currently dating Kikyo. Kikyo: The calm, peaceful lady who was also supposedly _Kagome's_ best friend, best friends with Sango as well. Souta: _Kagome's_ younger brother. Shippou: tall, red hair, and pretty aqua-ish eyes. Kohaku: Sango's younger brother, called _Kagome_ sis as well, has freckles.

Kagome: The person they told her who she was. Caring, kind, always loving and nurturing everything. She wasn't Kagome anymore. Kagome knew these people, was friends with these people. She wasn't Kagome. And until the memories cam back, never would she be.

_12:40 P.M, Thursday, June Nineteenth. (Keade's Cottage)_

The three adults watched her as she stared out the window and into the large backyard, watching the birds and squirrels. A brilliantly blue bird flew past, and they saw her eyes follow it, but her head didn't move, nor did her body. She sat still, not even twitching, and barely even breathing. Every so often she would take a sip of tea that Keade made, but that was it.

She looked like a still-life painting.

Her black, knee-length skirt, perfectly pristine and no little white fuzzies attached to it. Her silky light blue T-shirt with the kanji for "summer" was written on it in smooth, metallic green letters. Her plain black sandals, and the small silver watch on her left wrist. Her long, wavy hair brushed to perfection this morning by the nurse at her hospital room.

Her glassy brown eyes that reflected the world.

Sighing, Sango turned towards Miroku. "She doesn't even remember us…"

"She has amnesia. Of course she doesn't remember us." Miroku replied, sipping his tea and leaning back in his whicker chair.

"But she doesn't even remember Souta! Her own younger brother!" Sango whispered harshly, pulling him by his shirt collar until he was head to head with her.

"Child, calm down. It will all come back to her…" Keade tried to calm Sango down, but it was no use; the girl was livid.

"It's those stupid doctors! They gave her too much medicine, and now she doesn't remember anything. I would've rather had her stay in a coma a few days longer than for her to forget us!"

"She hasn't forgotten us…" Miroku resisted the urge to look at his friend as she still looked out the window.

"She just doesn't remember us…" He finished, and Sango let go of his shirt finally. Tears appeared in her eyes.

"I have to use your bathroom, Keade." Sango said, standing up. Kagome's gaze fell off the window, and onto the now standing girl, and watched her as she left the room, only her eyes moving once again.

"Child, would ye like to visit the backyard? Ye seem so interested in it." She only nodded as Keade led her to a back door, where she entered the backyard.

_12:58 P.M, Thursday, June Nineteenth. (Aika's Hayashi)_

Even though she had been staring out the window all day at it, she hadn't been informed that the old lady's backyard was actually a _forest_. The thick trees blocked out all the blaring sun from above, and for that, she was thankful. For some reason, she didn't like being straight under the sun for a long period of time. She felt… unprotected, and naked…

Slowly she made her way down the small, winding path that led into the dark forest. She liked the effect it made, it looked seemingly menacing, and dangerous. Like there could be anything in it, and you would never know until you saw its glowing eyes staring out at you.

Once out of view from the cottage, she let out the breath she hadn't known she had been holding. Never did her feet stumble on the tangle of shrubs and underbrush as it crowded her path, nor did she trip on the tree roots as they stood out at odd angles. The chirps of birds she had heard in the backyard long since disappeared as she had entered the forest, its darkness engulfing her.

The humidity that normally lay heavy in the air had disappeared, but there was no breeze. Barely any patches of sun shown through the thick canopy of the trees. The air was getting thicker as the minutes rolled on. She kept on walking, past tree, past tree, not faltering over the dead branches laden on the ground. The soft crunching of leaves beneath feet alerted her someone was there.

"What is it that you want?" She asked quietly, not turning to face the intruder of her peace.

"Why are you acting this way?"

"I am afraid that I do not know what you mean."

"Yes you do!"

"I hate to disappoint you, but I do not."

"Stop it! Just stop it!"

"I regret to say that this is just who I am."

"Go back to normal!"

"I do not know what you mean."

"Yes you do! Just stop it, Kagome!"

"I am afraid I can't."

_7: 26 P.M, Thursday, June Nineteenth. (Nankinmame Tsuji)_

Three of them sat in the back, while the other two waited up front with the driver. He was a strange green man shorter than her hip. How he reached the pedals to drive, no one but the green-ish man himself knew. The rude man and the calm lady sat across from her as she sat next to window.

They were watching her.

Closely, and she could tell. They conversed quietly with the other, but their eyes weren't on the other. They were staring at her as she gazed out the window. Suddenly they stopped before a large mansion, pulled into the circle-around driveway, and parked before the large doors.

She was looking out the other side of the limo, and all she could see was the beautiful fountain made with intricate patterns and magnificently carved granite. Dusk was just starting to fall, the sky was a light midnight blue – not quite completely dark yet.

The limo door was jerked open, and a red blur sped in and attached itself to her. She heard someone get into the front cab of the limo, and shut the door. She looked down to the child attached to her, watching her grinning like no tomorrow. There were similarities between the two…

'_She looks so like me… is she… is she my daughter?_'

"…Hello…" She tried, hoping it would suffice.

"Hi Kag-chan!" The young girl chimed, picking herself off the older girl and tugging her seatbelt on.

The young girl's bright, silky red dress was perfectly clean and unblemished, not wrinkling as she sat down on it without care. Her shiny black shoes and smooth white tights, the small ponytail pinned with a ruby clip on the side of her head, completed the girl's look. _Adorable_.

She looked down at her own dress with distaste, and wished that she had chosen a less brightly colored one. It was a thin silky material that cut off just above her knees, and had no sleeves. It was a royal blue with small black stars at the edges. Her shoes were black and only two inch heals, while the only make up she wore was a basic shiny lip-gloss.

"Where are we going, Kagome-chan?" She had started to get used to being called _Kagome_.

"I… I do not know…"

"Oh… well, you'll tell me when you find out, right?" This brought a small smile to her face, as she turned to face the young girl.

"Yes, of course."

_7:55 P.M, Thursday, June Nineteenth. (Sono Chimeiteki Ryouriten)_

Sitting around a large table, talk was made indolently, as were complements on their choice of dress. Some smaller, secluded conversations were engaged between a group of two or three, but otherwise everyone seated at the table besides Rin was feeling gauche and discomforted. Rin smiled from her chair, where she sat on a makeshift booster seat composing of a phone book, bouncing slightly.

Looking at the older girl beside her, Rin tapped her on the shoulder. "Can we go to the park tomorrow? I know it's not Monday, but I really want to go!" She stared at the young girl with hesitation. Slowly she nodded, unaware of what she was getting herself into.

"I have to use the restroom." She said suddenly, standing up, making her way through the ryouriten and to the restroom. She didn't notice Kikyo following her until she reached the restroom.

The two girls watched each other in the large mirror.

"That young girl… is she of close attachment to me?" She asked tentatively, watching for the older girl's reaction. Kikyo said nothing, but nodded.

"Why… why does she look so like me?" Kikyo's eyes widened, but the action went on unnoticed by the other girl.

"Rin… there is no reason… were you hoping for one?"

"Oh… I just thought…"

"You thought what?"

"I just thought she was my daughter…"

* * *

I'm in my dark and depressed mood I get in when I listen to Circa Survive and don't see the sun for 24 hours.

AngelMaiden: I am sure to keep him in my prayers until you assure me he is alright!

Leave a little # sign in your review if you actually read my author's note…

I really appreciate your comments, and I'm in urgent need of a beta, Love, Cait.


	9. The Memories

One Last Summer

Chapter Nine

_1:11 A.M, Friday, June Twentieth. (Shore-Side Condo's)_

Tossing and turning, trying to unravel the swathes of blankets tangled around her, Kikyo lay on the bed in a heap. There were nights when she couldn't get to sleep, when she would have to lay there, hot and itchy, trying to fall asleep and not succeeding until the break of dawn. Her mind was plagued by unidentified thoughts in which she couldn't understand their turmoil or struggle.

Tonight was one of those nights.

Now, though, tonight the tumult of her thoughts was about Kagome. Or what used to be Kagome. Now, the girl preferred that they didn't call her Kagome, Kagome-chan, or Kag-chan. She didn't really like to be called anything, let alone answer to the questions they asked her.

_Kagome_ preferred to be alone, in dark rooms that didn't have many windows or entryways. She liked it in the dark rooms of Sesshomaru and InuYasha's house, where she could sit in any room, laying on the floor or on a couch, in the dark, where she wouldn't have to move to another room until a butler or maid came in to clean. The maids always screamed when they turned the lights on and saw her lying on the floor quietly, not moving or seemingly breathing. They always presumed her dead, until Sesshomaru or InuYasha came running into the room to prove them wrong.

A small smile would always unfold on Kagome's face when it happened, they said, like she really liked scaring the shit out of the house-workers. But it would disappear whenever anyone commented on it, and she would slowly make her way out of the room and into another, where the pattern was repeated. She always made sure to brush against the maid or butler on the way out, which made them shiver.

Her cold, sadistic eyes matched those of Sesshomaru's himself; the pair would make a perfect couple. Although, now that she thought back upon it, back when Kagome was warm, friendly, and remembered, she and Sesshomaru would've made a better match then they did now. Why hadn't she or Sango ever thought about it?

It was hard to imagine that this girl… the girl that slept and ate in the same house as her, the one that shared an extremely similar face with her, was still _Kagome_. Because in Kikyo's eyes, it wasn't Kagome. At least, it wasn't the Kagome she and everyone else used to know.

Sighing, she flipped over, tangling the blankets around herself even more, and tried to get back to sleep. No such luck in a world where your best friend almost drowned in a pool and then lost her memory. Never did there seem to be any luck for Kikyo, despite the fact that she had the best friends and boyfriend in the world.

Slowly her eyes drifted closed, and all the thoughts disappeared from her mind. Kikyo could feel the edges of sleep tugging at the tumult of her mind, quietly pressuring them away with its inviting darkness and warmth. Just as it was about to overtake her, a scream interrupted her night.

_1:13 P.M, Friday, June Twentieth. (Shore-Side Condo's)_

With all her might, and with every object in reaching distance of the room, she threw them at the window. Blinded by the sheets that had somehow tangled themselves around her upper torso, her aim was off-center and rarely made its target, which was about every five items. Tugging the lamp off the bedside table and out of the electrical socket with such speed and force that it chipped the plaster of the walls, she chucked it at the intruder by the window.

A muffled moan was heard, and a yelp, when the lamp made it to its target, striking the intruder in the head. The door burst open, and there stood Sango and Kikyo, illuminated by the bright light behind them coming from the hall. They looked around at the madness, objects and blankets tossed all over the place, the dark red curtains of the open window above her bed swaying in the summer breeze.

She panted hard, trying to untangle herself from the blankets.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Sango rushed over to help the confused and scared girl, unraveling the puzzle of blankets. She sunk to her knees on the floor and began to cry.

"What happened?" Kikyo repeated, exploring the room as Sango hugged the girl.

"A-an intruder… they… they b-broke in th-through the window…" She cried, trying to wipe the tears from her face.

"Shhh… It's okay… I'm sure it was nothing…"

"No! I saw it! He had long, dark wavy hair and bright red eyes! He kept whispering something to me, and holding out his hand. Like I would actually go with him free of will! I screamed, jumped out of the bed, and chucked random objects at him. He didn't seem that experienced, because I kept hitting him."

"Are you sure? It could've been the wind that opened the window, and then you were dreaming –" Sango started.

"No… she's telling the truth." Kikyo stated, looking out the open window. "The garden below her window has indentations, signifying that someone had stood there, watching her sleep through the window. And there's little nicks in the wood of the window, like the intruder had made his way in by picking the lock with a tool of some sort."

"I'm going to call the police." Sango stood up, but was stopped.

"No! We can't. I don't think this is a matter that the police should get involved with…"

"Then what are we supposed to do, hang around here and wait 'til this guy comes back to get us?" Sango was starting to panic now.

"No. We call Sesshomaru."

_1:26 A.M, Friday, June Twentieth. (Shore-Side Condo's)_

Hearing a tentative knock on the door, Sango went to answer it. It was too dark out to see through the little glass eyehole in the door, so she cautiously opened the door a small bit, and looked through a crack near the bottom. Only to shriek at the sight of a grinning, and crouching Rin.

Sesshomaru pushed his way into the small condo and looked around, Rin, InuYasha and Miroku following behind him. The young girl hopped around the condo, looking at all the sights of it. A large TV, a decent sized radio, some tables, couches, chairs, and pictures all around, covering most of the floor space on the outer edges of the room. She walked over to a small lump curled up on the couch, and peeked under the blanket.

She giggled. "Kagome-chan! What are you doing hiding under the blanket? Silly Kagome-chan, I am no monster!" The young girl gazed into deep brown eyes just like her own, unaware of the shivers that racked the other's body.

"Rin…" She whispered, loud enough so that only Rin, and the ones standing near the couch could hear her voice. Sesshomaru stood right beside Rin.

He almost shivered at the sound of her voice; so weak, helpless, and unprotected. He felt the sudden urge to gather her in his arms, stroking her dark hair, and reassure her of the safeness he held. But being Sesshomaru, he kept his urges in and under the cold mask he always wore, and decided on just sitting on the end of the couch, next to her feet.

Rin pulled herself up and under the blankets on the couch, lying right beside Kagome, and the older girl wrapped her arms around the younger one. The group of adults watched as Rin snuggled into the older girl's embrace, holding on to her tight, like if she let go, then she would be gone forever. Just like it was when Kagome had been in the coma.

"What is it that we were called here for?" Sesshomaru spoke, annoyed with the long silence.

"Someone broke into the condo… more importantly, Kagome's room." Kikyo said, looking between InuYasha and Sesshomaru.

"Hey, why are you giving me the 'you-know-what-I-mean-and-what-it-means-that-someone-broke-into-her-room' look?" InuYasha inquired blatantly, looking back at Kikyo with large, questioning golden eyes. Sesshomaru and Kikyo shook their heads and sighed -- although Sesshomaru did so mentally – at his stupidity.

"Sesshomaru… do you know what's going on? Kikyo?" Sango questioned, an accusing glare written on her face.

"It's classified information…" Sesshomaru drawled.

"If it has anything to do with the person who has been hunting down Kagome, I think we all deserve to know!" Miroku shouted, jumping up from the comfy chair he was sitting on. Rin peeked out at the group, as Sesshomaru shook his head side to side in desperation.

"There's someone out to kill her-me?" She covered up her mistake. "Why wasn't I informed?" It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"We… we didn't want you to know… We agreed on it, and decided that you would be better off if you didn't know…" Miroku said.

"Only Sesshomaru and I knew, but of course now you all know…" He finished. "It was a great fear of yours, Kagome, and we had promised to keep it a secret. I told Sesshomaru, but you didn't know. You thought only I knew." He finished.

"Why didn't we know?" Sango asked tentatively, speaking for herself, InuYasha, and Kikyo as well.

"…I didn't want to put you guys in danger…" Kagome whispered suddenly, looking down at her hands with wide eyes. She sat up in a cross-legged style on the couch, Rin looking curiously at the others from her position in the older girl's lap.

"Kagome… Are you remembering?" Sango asked quietly, hoping to the dear lord.

"I… I-I don't know… Did I forget something?" They looked at her with wide eyes.

"Kagome, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, Kikyo, I'm fine. What happened? I feel so dizzy…" Holding her head in her hands, she winced as her life flashed before her eyes.

"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted as she began to wobble in her sitting position.

'_Am… am I dying or something? Why am I remembering these things?_' She thought, as a memory of a day she spent with Kouga came back to mind. Suddenly, as fast as it started, it stopped, and she sat there panting, as they all stared at her from their positions around the room.

* * *

Horribly sorry for the shortness and the crappiness of this chapter. 

I'd be happy to answer any questions, so please go ahead and ask.

I'm contemplating a new story, so please check my profile!

Almost at one hundred reviews! Thanks so much! Love, Cat.


	10. The Story

**Warning: Some Strong language**

One Last Summer

Chapter Ten

_9:34 AM, Friday, June Twentieth. (Tokyo University Hospital)_

Kagome, lying on the plain white, pristine sheets on a hospital bed, waiting for the doctor to come back in with her examination results from the blood test she just took. Apparently, over the past week, she had been diagnosed with amnesia, and before that she had been in a coma for almost three weeks. It wasn't strange for something like that to happen. No, not at all. The strange part was not remembering.

There were no fresh memories in her mind of the things that had happened since the moment she had fallen into the pool. She remembered being chased into the dark room, opening the blinds on the windows, and being partially blinded by the brightness of it. Then the children had come in, she had fallen into the pool; she remembered looking up at their faces while violently grasping the water, trying to propel herself to the surface. She remembered their confused faces as everything became black, and a small stream of red entered her vision before everything went black.

Then she had just woken up, as memories she had already seen and experienced in her life rushed back to her like they were new. There was a large gap in her memory, for when she fell into the pool; it had been May thirtieth when she had fallen into the pool… three days after Rin's birthday party. Now it was June twentieth, twenty-one days – exactly three weeks – and it didn't seem like it. When she though back to it, there was just a large, blank space where she couldn't remember anything that happened.

"Alright, we're ready to go." The doctor spoke, and Kagome just nodded slowly. "Stay still, and try not to move around much. We're just going to have to do it all over again if you keep moving." This guy didn't seem to like his job.

"Okay."

"Just stay calm, and don't move."

"I am."

"Stop talking!"

"Fine!"

'_Gosh, what a jerk. He could try to comfort me, at least. He's not the one in here, not moving, trying to make sense of the jumble of thoughts and emotions that are rushing through my mind… I'm so weird…_'

"Okay, we're good. You can move now, and don't break the equipment when you come out!" The doctor said, not sticking around to help her out.

"Where do I go?" She asked herself aloud, not seeing the obvious sign that clearly stated the way to get out.

"Kagome!" A shout came from down the other end of the long hallway, and she turned to see her friends. Sango, Miroku, and Kikyo ran up to her, their breath short and panting like dogs.

"Hey guys…" Kagome started tentatively, confused.

"We were so worried! It's been twenty minutes since your examination ended, and we couldn't find you anywhere! We thought we lost you the same way we did back two years ago, at the scary carnival!" Sango shrieked, and pulled her best friend in close for a hug.

Of course, with his girlfriend doing that, Miroku wanted a piece of the action as well. He snuck in between the three embracing girls, placing a hand on both Kikyo and Kagome's behinds, shocking them out of their emotional greeting. Each slamming a fist down on top of his head, the two offended girls and Sango glared down at the cowering man on the floor.

"Miroku!"

"You asshole, you're only supposed to grope your own girlfriend, not her friends! And especially not when your violent GIRLFRIEND is right in front of you, you idiot!" Sango screamed, kicking him in a sensitive area for good measure.

"Bloody pervert… needs to be castrated…" With a sigh, the group – not being led by the ever-so-directionless Kagome – walked down the opposite end of the hallway Kagome was going down, ending up in the waiting room.

"Alright, now we go out to lunch! Miroku has to go back to work, so it's just us girls!" Kikyo chimed as the three bid Miroku goodbye and hopped into Sango's car. Holding on for their dear lives, Sango sped off towards a small café near the edge of the city.

_12:17 PM, Friday, June Twentieth. (Sono Aoi Watatsumi Ryouriten)_

As they sat around the table, waiting for their food and drinks to come, Kagome admired the decorative space of the small restaurant they were sitting in. There were small ponds under bridges where tables were set on small islands in the pond, the edges guarded by metal railings. She looked to her right, and over into the pond, to see some bright orange and yellow fish swimming, their shiny scales glittering under the bright lights that came from the glass ceiling above.

Her friends were staring at her oddly.

"So… the weather is –"

"Spill, Kagome, what the hell do you mean someone's trying to kill you?" Sango was always blunt and forceful, wasn't she? Here Kagome was, just trying to make pleasant conversations, while Sango just _had_ to go into details about something that slipped out earlier.

"Uh, yeah, about that… it was a joke! We were all just kidding –"

"Cut the crap, bitch, if what Sesshomaru and Miroku say is true, you're life is on the line, and I think we deserve to know about it, especially since you're our FRIEND!" So she really _didn't_ want to talk pleasantries.

"W-well…"

"Kagome-chan, please tell us!" Kikyo pleaded, her plain brown eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"It's hard to explain…"

"How hard is it to explain to your best friends that your life is in danger? That someone is trying to kill you? That after one night, we might find you dead in your room and never see you again? You're scaring us with this crap, and all we want to know is the truth!"

"I-I can't say it here." She spoke, then leant down towards Sango's ear and began to whisper. "There's a possibility that we're being watched… we need to go somewhere safer than this place…"

"Alright, as long as you promise!"

"I promise."

"Show us your hands."

Sighing and rolling her eyes, Kagome held up both her hands to show her friends that no fingers were crossed. With that, Sango smiled, like nothing was ever wrong in the first place, and stood up.

"Waiter! Uh… yeah, sorry, but you're going to have to cancel that order we just made. We have previous… _engagements_ to do…"

_12:57 PM, Friday, June Twentieth. (Taishou Manor)_

Not feeling comfortable to stay in their apartment for longer than a few minutes at a time, the three of them had – to Sesshomaru's discomfort and Rin's delight – taken residence at the Taishou Manor for the time being. While they were truly scared of another break in, and Sesshomaru knew, the still complained of them just wanting to get free food.

Sitting down on the overly plush, leather sofas in the living room, Kagome shut all the curtains on the windows with a clap of her hands. She knew how everything worked around here, having visited so often each day by coming to baby-sit Rin. The other two sat across from her, and looked at her expectantly. She blinked a bit and cleared her throat.

"It all started when I was a kid, and Souta was just a baby… about ten years ago. Our whole family – Mom, Pop, Grandpa, Souta and I – were just having any other normal day in our lives. Now, my father was a military general, meaning we had to move around a lot, and had strict orders. We were trained like recruits and everything. I guess that was our default."

"What do you mean 'was'? Did he retire or something?" Sango asked, already intrigued with the story.

"And what do you mean 'default'?"

"I'll get to that in a moment, girls. If you really want to know, then let me finish!"

They grumbled a "Fine."

"Well, we had recently moved away from Kyoto, where we had last been situated. We had a new house, new neighbors, had to make new friends, everything. It was hard, but I was used to it by then. So we were all just having any other day, when that night, father and mother went out on a date. Grandpa was watching us, and waiting for them to come home. They didn't.

"We waited for hours and hours, before he finally sent us to bed, and when I woke up the next morning, he told us that someone from the military had called. They said that my parents were dead…"

"Oh, Kagome! Why didn't you ever tell us this!"

"Because I'm over it. And I don't like looking back upon the past." She said quietly, her gaze solemn and piercing. "My mother was a doctor. Or, at least, that's what she told us. Apparently, she was much, much, more than just an ordinary doctor. And my father was much, much, more than an ordinary military general. They were both working for the military, working on a secret project. My mother worked in the genetics section of it, while my father was one of the few selected individuals that knew about it.

"Those projects, named Tetsusaiga, Tenseiga, and Tokijin. Weapons of mass destruction, healing, and obliteration, to be used against our enemies. Besides Mom, Dad, and Grandpa, who are all long dead, I am one of the only ones that know what the projects are.

"People want these weapons. For ultimate destruction, killing, and healing. Those people will go to any type of end to get these projects. Besides the other surviving military officers and scientists that are the head of the project, I am on the top of their blackmail list. I know a lot of secrets, and that's just what they want." She stopped for a breather.

"Even though Souta is my little brother, he was too young to know about the projects at the time, so he is under less protection than I am. We were both put under the protection of the military, being forced to lay low and do anything stupid. Like tell anyone these secrets. I'm not even supposed to tell you, since it could now endanger your lives."

"Kagome, we would go through anything, just so we could still be friends with you! It doesn't matter, you're our best friend!" The three girls embraced, but that was when the questions began to arise.

"I knew something was up since I learned about InuYasha's work and all, but I never thought it went as deep as this, Kagome…" Kikyo spoke suddenly, bringing something to Sango's attention.

"Kagome, how is it that Miroku, Kikyo, and InuYasha knew about this, when I as the only one who didn't? And how the hell does Sesshomaru tie into all this?"

"Well… Sesshomaru and Miroku work for Mr. Taishou, and the corporation he owns. Taishou Corporation. Kikyo was informed when she hooked up with InuYasha, and Sesshomaru… well, Sesshomaru owns the company. Mr. Taishou is just using the last few years of his life before retirement. Taishou Corp owns Tetsusaiga, Tokijin, and Tenseiga."

"So… he knows about everything?"

"Everything."

About your past?"

"Absolutely every piece."

"And… he hired you as a babysitter, knowing all this?"

"Not exactly… see, Sesshomaru isn't exactly the one who is in charge of the projects. He's in charge of mainly Tenseiga, and Tokijin. InuYasha owns Tetsusaiga. I know most about Tenseiga and Tetsusaiga, but almost nothing about Tokijin."

"Wow… I think… I think I'm going to go for a short walk…" Sango mumbled, standing up, grabbing a red sweatshirt as she headed outside and down onto the sidewalk. Kikyo sighed, stood up, and went to the kitchen after asking Kagome is she wanted anything to eat. Negative.

Standing up as well, Kagome walked over to the backyard, where she then plopped down on the grass and stared up at the bright sky as the sun blared down at her. The green lawn was plush and soft beneath her back, each patch feeling like a personalized pillow. Closing her eyes, she let the temptation of sleep gradually take over her body as she drifted off into unconsciousness.

_9:31 PM, Friday, May Twentieth. (Taishou Manor)_

Blinking her eyes open, Kagome noticed that the bright star called the sun wasn't blinding her anymore. Her eyes took a few moments to adjust to the darkness of the night, and finally she noticed the person standing above her. Sesshomaru stood above her, his piercing golden eyes looking down at her.

"Something is troubling you. This Sesshomaru can see it in your eyes."

"Uh… my crave for chocolate ice cream hasn't been satisfied in the past twenty-four hours?"

"No… you are in turmoil." She sighed.

'_Nothing got past THAT Sesshomaru._' She thought.

"Nothing gets past this Sesshomaru." Kagome giggled aloud at how her thoughts and his words were related.

"I told my friends today… about me…"

"You did not confirm it with this Sesshomaru that you were going to do so."

"Well, _sorry_. Hell, they didn't confirm it with me either!"

"I take it you told them everything."

"No. Not everything. I don't want to hurt them that much."

"You haven't hurt them."

"Yes, I have! What do you call messing up their already busy lives with my so-called amnesia, which, I swear to fuckin' God, I cannot remember anything! I've messed up big time, Sesshomaru, and worst of all, it's my friends' lives I've messed up this time. All my life, I have ruined everything. I should've expected this. Why would this time be any different from all the last?"

"You bring pain to yourself of your own free will…"

"Of course I do, it's what I deserve! I'm a reject, Sesshomaru, always have been, always will be. And there's nothing you can do to stop me from trying to save my friends lives before I mess up again."

"You haven't messed up."

"Oh contraire, Sesshomaru. I have fucked up more than I have ever fucked up before."

_1:46 PM, Monday, June Twenty-Third. (Oishii Oishii Teien)_

"Please, please, pleeeeeaaaasse! Come on, Kagome-chan! Can't we pleeeaaasse get some ice cream? I ate all my lunch, just like you said! Ice cream is good for you! Cream is milk, and milk makes you big and strong! So it _is_ good for you!"

Kagome giggled at the girl's last comments. "Wow, Rin-chan, you sure are smart! One day, you'll be as smart as Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin grinned like no tomorrow, and ran over to the ice cream vendor, dragging Kagome behind her.

"Alright, Rin, which flavor would you like?" Kagome asked, pulling her wallet out of her purse and preparing the correct amount of money for two large ice creams.

"Well, I want mint chocolate chip, but I know Kagome-chan wants chocolate!"

"Oh? And how, pray-tell, do you know that?" A dark, delicate eyebrow rose at her statement.

"I was listening when you and Sesshomaru were talking on the night of the day you went to the hospital, and you said something about wanting chocolate ice cream!" Kagome gulped at the thought that the young girl had heard their whole conversation.

"Rin-chan… did you hear everything we said?"

'_Shit, man, shit! What if she really heard everything I said! If she tells Sesshomaru that I've been using potty words, he might fire me! I love Rin, and I need this job! This is my last summer to not mess up like always before! And if anyone asks, I was just really, really, really hyper and wasn't thinking straight!_'

"Yes, Kagome-chan I was listening the whole time. Are you mad at me? I know that listening to other people that are talking in secret is bad, but it was my two favorite people talking!" Kagome smiled, paid the man for the two ice creams, and held Rin by the hand as they walked through the park.

"Kagome-chan?"

"Yes?"

"What did you mean when you said you messed up? Did you make an ouch-y? Did you give Kikyo-chan and Sango-chan an ouch-y too? Why did you say it was always your fault? Sometimes, I make boo-boo's too…" Rin inquired, her large brown eyes staring up into Kagome's own big brownies, unabashed.

'_Eek! I swear, those X-rays they took of me earlier really messed up my brain! But I do mess up… Not anymore, though! I have a one-way ticket no messing up land!_'

"What did you say about no messing up land?"

'_Did I really say that aloud? Gosh…_'

"Eh… Nothing! Nothing at all, Rin-chan…"

They sat down on a bench, watching the pigeons that pecked around the dirty gravel surrounding the trash can near by. Suddenly, Rin's ice cream slipped off her cone as she waved her arms in the air, trying to catch one of the pigeons as it flew over her head.

"Woops…" Rin whispered, watching as a man came jogging up, and slipped on the slippery, melting ice cream, and landed smack right in Kagome's lap, where she then dropped her ice cream on the back of his head in surprise.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Kagome asked hurriedly, as the man picked himself off her lap with a heavy blush on his face. His dark blue eyes met her brown ones, and they each gasped in surprise.

"Kagome-chan?"

"Bankotsu-kun?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Man-sama, My ice cream slipped. Do you know Kagome-chan like I know Kagome-chan?" Rin looked between the two adults, when the man finally noticed the chocolate ice cream on the top and back of his head as it dripped gooey coldness onto his neck and down his long braid.

* * *

Okay! I'm sorry that CHAPTER NINE SUCKED! This is a make up. Also, I'm sorry this is a bit – cough, more like a billion days, cough – late, but I've been struggling with a bout with depression and a teensy bit of writer's block! Um… I know this chapter was angst-y and OOC, but I needed to add a bit more dark and deep character into Kagome's past, since I didn't do that in the beginning like I should've!

Please Review, and I hope you enjoyed! –Cat (NOW KNOW AS CAT CATCHES BIRD, or CcB!)


	11. The End

One Last Summer

Chapter Eleven

Part I

_2:08 PM, Monday, June Twenty-Third. (Oishii Oishii Teien)_

Walking side by side, Kagome sized him up. Looking from his feet to his face, and from his face back to his feet, she saw how much he had changed over the last four and a half years she hadn't seen him for. His long black braid was the same, and so were his glowing cerulean eyes, but he was more masculine looking and taller than before. Much taller.

In high school, he had always been shorter than all the others, and fun of it for it. But in his last year, he shot up about a foot and a half, which made the others scared of him. They were scared of him before, as well, because he would – of course, without Kagome's approval – beat them up in a dark alleyway.

His once cheery, never-ending-even-if-I-die-tomorrow attitude was gone, but a slightly airy demeanor still hung around him. He stared straight in front of him as he walked, once in a while looking at herself or Rin. He smiled a brilliant grin when catching her staring at him; one that seemed like tomorrow would never come. He seemed happy enough, but his eyes told her that something was on his mind.

What was it?

Just the dark presence that hung over his head was enough for her to look closely with concern. Although barely noticeable, dark circles hung under his eyes, proving the theory that he was so completely stressed out that he couldn't sleep. Enough to arise a small suspicion in at least someone, right?

Hell yeah.

"Bankotsu…" He turned to look at her. "I uh… was just wondering, if uh… um…" A dark eyebrow on a smooth and tan forehead rose in amusement.

"Yes…?" He asked slyly, obviously noticing her nervousness.

"Um, well, you seem a bit more tense than usual. Is everything alright?" Rin looked confusedly between the two, trying to figure out the tenseness of Bankotsu. She didn't see any… to her knowledge, anyways.

"Oh? I should be asking you the same exact question, Kagome-chan. Since when did the happiest girl I know slump her shoulders and not skip down a path in the park, hmm?" She sweat-dropped at the sudden and direct change of subject. "Is it something I should be worried about, sweet darling Kagome-chan?"

"Oh! No, I mean, everything's alright!"

'_Despite the fact that someone broke into our house, I was knocked into a pool and in a coma for some time, where I then "caught" a case of amnesia, which I only recently got over. Oh, and did I tell you that there's someone out to kill me? And that I have only this job to support myself? Also that the sole reason I still have this job is because Rin loves me and I love her?_'

Regardless of the fact that she wasn't supposed to tell anyone, and that it wasn't a laughing matter, she was tempted to actually tell her old friend everything as she let loose a small laugh.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I swear that I am!" She replied, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her nose up into the air.

"Since when did you start swearing?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm a grown woman now, Bankotsu! You missed out on me changing from that sweet little girl, to the one who swears all she wants!" Kagome proclaimed, her nose tuning up even higher, if it was possible, in the air. He laughed a bit as Rin focused on the shiny rock she just found.

"Yeah, you're grown up, and I'm walking next to your daughter." He rolled his eyes and looked at Rin, while Kagome sweat-dropped.

"Uh, well… she's not exactly MY daughter, but –"

"Fuck, she is your daughter!"

"I never said that. Not exactly, really…"

"Well then, who is this little girl standing next to me who is _not exactly_ your daughter?" She chuckled at the way he placed his words.

"Bankotsu, this is Rin. I baby-sit Rin while her father is working."

"Hello Bankotsu-sama! Will you be friends with me?" Rin brightly chirped, running to stand in front of him and walk backwards while staring up into his face. She had been to afraid before to ask him the question. Their eyes met, and he couldn't help but smile at the young child's enthusiastic exterior. He guessed it was interior, too.

"Sure, Rin." He answered with a large grin that could rival the one on Rin's face.

"Okay!" She replied, and ran back off the path and into the grass, running alongside the adults as they talked. The old friends had so much to talk about, since they hadn't seen each other for so long. Back in high school, the two had been inseparable, even at the annoying times of Jakotsu wanting to spend time alone with Bankotsu.

The two had a joke of saying 'The old hag wants her husband to come home,' much to Jakotsu's disapproval. Despite the fact that Bankotsu hated the phrase as well, it was always hysterical to see the darkened, aggravated look on his friend's face when Kagome said it aloud.

The friends had gone through their high school years with detention every day after school and every Saturday morning almost all year round for four years. Of course, no one but the three of them – also sometimes Jak and Ban's friend, Suikotsu – knew about it. Where as, through all her life, Kagome was thought of to be the good girl that never swore, never committed any secret crimes, never went anywhere past kissing with a boy, and never did drugs or smoked anything.

That's what they _believed_, not what they _knew_.

Kagome knew almost every swear word in the book by age eight.

Kagome and Bankotsu spray-painted walls, shoplifted, and committed other indecent acts every Friday night.

Kagome went far past just kissing a boy in her time… way past…

And although she was never addicted, Kagome was one of those kids who tried and experimented with drugs. Never long enough that she got hooked, though.

And here we thought Kagome was perfect!

Fuck it.

_3:13 PM, Monday, June Twenty-Third. (Taishou Offices)_

Storming through the building, the trio made it to the elevator – much to their surprise – without getting thrown out of the office. They waited for a few minutes, before the elevator brought them up to the seventy-seventh floor, the second to the top, where Sesshomaru's office was. Rin leading the way, they walked slowly through the sterile and perfect hallways of Sesshomaru's floor.

It was like walking through heaven, there was so much luxury and comfort all around. Each window had been perfectly set to capture the best view a window could, and each office had to be big enough for someone to live in. Well, that is, since the only office on the whole floor was Sesshomaru's. It was probably as big as Sango, Kikyo, and Kagome's apartment, including the parking lot out front.

"Wow, your boss works here? What is he, a secretary?" Bankotsu whistled, his hands in his pockets. Taking one out and tucking a stray lock of ebony hair behind his ear, he absorbed every sight there was to see in the building.

"No… he doesn't work here that much…" Kagome started, hesitant how to reveal to her friend what Sesshomaru was.

"Internship?" He asked, still looking around.

"Sesshomaru-sama owns Taishou Corporation!" Rin chimed, and Bankotsu gave her a look of disbelief. He glanced over at Kagome to see if she would prove the young girl wrong. She didn't.

"Shit, this guy owns this place?"

"'This Guy' is Sesshomaru Taishou, owner of Taishou Corporation. Or soon to be, at that." The three looked up into the cold eyes of Sesshomaru, who had on one of his black suits that he seemed to wear every day.

"Does that mean you'll have the top floor?" Kagome asked, excited at the new prospect. Sesshomaru restrained from rolling his eyes, and made a mental note to do it later when he was trying to get to sleep at night and thought back upon the day.

"Yes, it does." Both males in the room could have swore that they saw lights shining in the shape of stars in her eyes at that moment.

"Well then what are we waiting for? I'll go up there and convince Mr. Taishou to retire right now!" She sang, and skipped back to the elevator with Rin in tow, leaving _Ban-chan_ alone with _Fluffy_.

There was a few moments of silence as Sesshomaru walked away towards his office, followed by the blue-eyed man, and sat down at his desk. He typed away at his computer as Bankotsu leaned on the wall of his office and looked around. Irritated by the long lapse of silence, he spoke to Sesshomaru.

"So… I guess she forgot to introduce us, huh." He said, his fingers running over a small groove in the glass walls of the office, while avoiding all eye contact with the tall, silver-haired man. There was no sincere need, since his opponent refused to look at the miscreant anyways.

"Please refrain from speaking to this Sesshomaru while I am working." He spoke few words in one sentence, but in clearly got the meaning across for Bankotsu.

It was more like a 'I don't give a shit what you have to say, the only reason you're still here is because you seem to get along with Kagome and Rin.'. Then there was the look that clearly stated 'Touch anything and I'll have my assistant castrate you.'

All of that was just enough to discourage him from speaking, or touching anything.

_3:17 PM, Monday, June Twenty-Third. (Seventy-Eighth Floor)_

"Mr. Taishou!" Kagome called through the large office, both she and Rin giggling when her voice echoed back. They skipped through the hallways just like they did in Sesshomaru's office, confident in the fact that they would not disturb Mr. Taishou.

Ever since she was brought out of her coma, Kagome had received more and more visits from the man who _really_ owned Taishou Corporation, and had become more like her natural self around him. He was no longer that humiliating, strange old – if fifty years counts as old – man that seemed to pop up wherever Kagome was and embarrass Sesshomaru and herself, but now seemed to be the kind, funny guy who was like the father figure she had missed out on since she was seven.

"Mr. Taishou! Rin and I have come up here all the way from the seventy-seventh floor to bother you into retiring and giving up your office!" Mr. Taishou's office seemed more like a playhouse than an actual office.

They was much more color than Sesshomaru's office, and there was actually some fun, yet strange, pictures on the walls, and not just windows. Colorful draping hung from the ceilings and doorways, where the brightest one, a glimmering golden color, hung from the doorway to his office. Twirling through the doorway with Rin in her arms, she called out again.

"Mr. Taishou –" She was cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

"— Is currently in a business meeting. He has taken a restroom break at the moment, mis—hello…" The man drawled at the end of his sentence as he caught a glimpse of Kagome and Rin. More Kagome, though.

"Uh… hi." She spoke tentatively, and slowly waved her hand. He stood up leisurely, scraping the feet of his chair on the soft carpeted-ground. He took her hand and kissed it, though never taking his eyes off of the beauty in front of him.

"Pleasure to meat you, miss. My name is Onigumo. Onigumo Naraku." He said, finally releasing her hand. He gave a glance at Rin that only lasted for a few seconds, possibly less. It seemed he couldn't really make any moves on her if a little girl was present. And trust him, he would've, if they were only somewhere else with less witnesses.

"Uh… Higurashi Kagome… the pleasure's all mine, Mr. Onigumo." She spoke, eyeing his stature, and internally gagging at her words.

He was handsome enough, not as tall as Mr. Taishou or Sesshomaru, but taller than InuYasha and Miroku. He had long, wavy black hair that spiraled down his back, brushed to perfection by what she guessed was his assistant, or girlfriend, or wife. His glowing, seemingly red eyes – she guessed it was a trick of the light – penetrated her own with an intensity that made her shiver.

"Please. Call me Naraku."

"Of course, Mr.Onigu—Naraku. Do you know when Mr. Taishou will be getting back?" Kagome still watched his every move with a close eye. He didn't seemed like one to trust at first; too slimy and greasy. Sure, his hair was alright, hell, it was beautiful if anything, but Naraku himself seemed to hold an aura of… slyness.

"Mr. Taishou –" He started, but a deep voice interrupted him from behind.

"—Is right here. Hello Kagome, you must have met my client, Mr. Onigumo." Mr. Taishou made his grand entrance behind them, coming from the restroom.

"Um… we'll just be leaving now… yeah. Goodbye Mr. Taishou. Pleasure, Mr. Onigumo." Kagome and Rin made their exit as quick as Mr. Taishou had entered, the older girl picking up the younger one in a quick attempt to escape the piercing eyes of Naraku.

"Visit sometime again soon, Kagome." Inu No Taishou called after her, but he knew she was too caught up in running away too focus on his words. He would call her later.

"Mr. Onigumo. I thought you had more honor in you than to prey on young, harmless girls like Kagome." His cold eyes narrowed, while walking back to his seat and glaring at the offending man.

Naraku chuckled, his deep voice ringing through the office. "Taishou. You flatter me with your words of 'honor'. You better watch out for that girl. Some day, someone might just… make her an offer she can't resist."

_3:23 PM, Monday, June Twenty-Third. (Seventy-Seventh Floor)_

"We're back!" Rin yelled as she entered the office where the girls had left the two men.

"Sorry for leaving you here, Ban." Kagome took a seat in the leather chair in front of Sesshomaru's desk, slumping down until all he could see over his computer was the top of her head.

"Tired much? What'd you do, run a marathon?" He asked, still leaning against the wall and trying to ignore the alarming presence of the man named Sesshomaru.

"Kagome was running! She picked me up and ran away from the scary man!" Rin plopped down in Sesshomaru's lap after crawling under his intricately designed desk, gazing up at him with an admiring look.

"What man?" He asked, suddenly disturbed from his work.

"Onigumo Naraku… I think he was making a business deal with your father…" Kagome said quietly. Bankotsu looked between Sesshomaru's icy face, Kagome's hesitant one, and Rin's cheerful one, and made a statement.

"So what's so big and bad about this Naraku guy?" He crossed his arms over his chest and stood closer to his friend for an unconscious reason.

"Naraku is… he is one of the company's biggest clients. A competitor as well. He seems to be interested in some projects that go deeper into the Taishou Corporation." He gave Kagome a flash of a look, to get his meaning, but quickly turned back to work.

No one seemed to notice the darkening look on his face. Quickly Bankotsu, Kagome, and Rin left, one girl over each of Bankotsu's shoulder. They giggled as he pretended to swerve and swoop on the way to the elevator, not noticing the deep glare Sesshomaru gave them.

Was he jealous?

No, couldn't be.

The day Sesshomaru Taishou was jealous, was the day the world ended.

All he needed something to drink. _FAST_.

* * *

No, the title of the chapter does not mean the end of the story! Refer to the last few lines. Hm… sorry it is so short, and that it took so long to get out, but never fear! Part II is coming out soon, I promise. And I hope chapter thirteen will be out soon as well. I am truly sorry about the angst-y ness of last chapter, but I wanted to add some depth. Also, I have to change the rating on this story for language.

Please Review, and keep on reading! Love, Cat.

(PS: I have two other stories up for adoption:Wash ItAway, and Its Not Over).


	12. The Trouble

One Last Summer

Chapter Twelve

Part II

_6:23 PM, Thursday, June Twenty-Sixth. (Taishou Manor)_

'_I will not kill Ban-chan._'

'_I will not kill Ban-chan._'

'_I will not kill Ban-chan._'

'_I will not – fuck._'

Just as Sesshomaru was about to reach out with a strong, long-fingered hand and strangle the blue-eyed man, Kagome decided it was time to play a game. Leading the large group into the living room of the manor, and taking special care to deliver Rin up to her bedroom, she said goodnight and gave her a kiss on the forehead like a mother would, before returning.

"Come on, Sesshomaru! It'll be fun, I promise! And if not, then you can confiscate my chocolate ice cream for two weeks!" She tried, looking up at him pleadingly. It was almost believable, if she quivered her lip a bit more…

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"C'mon, Sesshomaru!"

"No."

"Three weeks?"

"…No."

"Don't make me bring out the Fluffy shirt!" So she still had that shirt from the one time when they went to the beach, huh?

"No." Well good riddance. It was an embarrassment, anyways.

"Ugh, you're so impossible!" She stormed away with a pouting look on her face, sitting down on the soft-carpeted floor next to Sango and InuYasha. He decided on leaning against the wall with a small glass of wine in his hand, in case things became too much.

Dazing off into the world of where _Ban-chan_ was being tortured mercilessly by Sesshomaru himself, he was only snapped into attention when he felt someone glaring at him. Looking around, he realized the group had begun to play a round of cards, the game formally known as 'BS'.

His gaze locked with the painful glare. Brought to him by Kagome, who silently watched him with a deadly look. While he was thinking of murderous thoughts of Bankotsu, who sat next to Miroku and InuYasha, Kagome was probably thinking along the same lines about him. She huffed and looked back to her cards.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, he walked over and sat down in the open space left between Kikyo and Miroku, across from Kagome. She gave him a bright smile and dealt him some cards, and looks were exchanged between Sango and Kikyo. No one noticed, however.

"Two fives."

"One six."

"One seven."

"Peanut Butter."

"One Eight."

"Two nines."

"Four tens!"

"Bull Shit, Kagome!" Sango clapped her hands over her mouth, but the words were already out.

"Read 'em and weep, Sango! Take the pile!" Kagome shouted, and thus another round was started. The game lasted until nine, when finally they gave up on playing, since it was almost impossible to win with a crowd that large.

"Okay, what's next?" Kikyo asked, picking up all the cards and placing them in the original box. The group – of course with the exception of Sesshomaru, who seemed to not care, decided upon just sitting back and watching a movie.

A foreign flick it was, one that Kagome herself picked out. One that only she herself knew the words to, since it was based in America, and the characters spoke in English, which was her second language. It was something that's title translated to something along the lines of "The Ring". Although it was a horror flick, it was only half as scary as it would be since everything was in a foreign language.

Yawning and stretching as she stood up, Kagome decided it was time for everyone to go to bed. Even though they were all years over eighteen, and didn't have bedtimes.

"Alright! Let's go home, girls!" She included Bankotsu, who was staying at the girl's condo with them. And since they had a strong, male to protect them, the condo was deemed safe as long as he was there. And Kagome didn't sleep in her room, or therefore a room with a large window unprotected. Sesshomaru – surprise of all surprises – volunteered to drive the two homes. Sango would be going home with Miroku, and Kikyo would be staying with InuYasha.

"Thanks so much, Sesshomaru. I appreciate it." If he hadn't offered to drive them home, then pair would have had to resort to walking home in the cool of the night. It wasn't the temperature, or the distance. Both of them could have easily handled it.

It was more the fact that Kagome hated being outside at night when someone knew her location. Not only some random person. More of the men that were hunting her. Not that Bankotsu wouldn't protect her, but if they had a group larger than three men, which no doubt they did, he wouldn't stand a chance. Kagome didn't want him to get hurt.

Also, with a ride home, thugs that stalked the alleys around the neighborhood where Kagome lived wouldn't pester them for crack. Or something else…

"Hn." Was his only reply, but she knew that it was the best she could get for a "You're welcome." Stepping out of the magnificent silver car – one of Sesshomaru's that she had never seen before – the two walked up the stairs and into the apartment. Not before Kagome turned back around and waved goodnight to Sesshomaru as he backed out of the parking lot.

His cold eyes glittered before disappearing into shadows as the car drove off into the darkness.

_11:51 PM, Thursday, June Twenty-Sixth. (Shore-side Condo's)_

Stretching her arms over her head, Kagome went into her room to check on Bankotsu. She found him lounging across the bed, legs tangled in the sheets already, and he had only been sleeping in there for a bare five minutes at most! Sighing, she gently untangled his legs in the sheets, careful not to wake him, and tucked him in under the covers.

Walking out of the room and switching off the light as she left, Kagome looked back at her old best friend once, and a smile was brought to her face. They had had some good times when they were kids… crazy ones, but good. Part of her resented some of them, and she would definitely not be like her guardian. Kagome would not allow for her children to do and go through all the things she went through.

Even though her childhood was a good one, she would never, ever wish it upon someone else. Of course, it was bad enough with the whole Witness Protection thingy, but it just got worse from then on. Nothing that she'd like to muse over either. Let us just say that she had a hectic life, back before college. And no matter how much fun it was, it wasn't worth the pain it brought her today.

When the time had come, college had been like an escape for her, because she left everything behind. Her friends, her guardian, her little brother – although reluctantly, as she tried to persuade Keade to let him come with her – and the past she hoped to never remember.

She had met Sango, and Kikyo, her new and current best friends, and InuYasha and Miroku, her best friends' boyfriends. And Rin, the little girl she loved as a daughter! Plus, there was Sesshomaru, who – well, she didn't want to get into _those_ thoughts right now.

It was all so confusing.

But in the strange, hazy calamity of her mind, she tried to keep it all clear. Clear so that her friends and family members that she loved wouldn't have to go through anything that might hinder them… in physical, or mental ways. The old Kagome – the one from her teenage years, after her parents had passed away – couldn't have cared less. The new Kagome – the one who regretted her past and wished it all away – however, cared more about her friends and family than the world itself.

Which, in many ways, caused much trouble for the girl. Being too innocent at such and age brought on troubles like these, including the one that was sleeping in her bedroom as she herself slept in Kikyo's windowless room.

No, Bankotsu sleeping in her room wasn't any trouble at all.

_She missed her bed._

It didn't matter that the great Sesshomaru Taishou himself had almost murdered the largest troublemaker in Tokyo – without his own knowledge – that night.

_More witness protection!_

Lastly, she noticed that her thoughts kept drifting to one man.

The man she, at times, loathed for being so conceited.

The man she never would have believed she'd be thinking about.

The man that held her life in the palm of his hand.

Sesshomaru Taishou.

_10: 19 AM, Friday, June Twenty-Seventh. (Shore-Side Condos)_

"Hello, sleepy-head!" Kagome chimed as a bleary-eyed Bankotsu stumbled into the kitchen of the condo.

He grunted something what she thought sounded like a "G'morning," but she could never be sure with Bankotsu. For all her knowledge, he could've said something like "Shit the world, it sucks, I need an Advil." She just preferred to think it was good morning.

"Want some eggs?" She didn't wait for a reply, knowing what he'd say, and set a plate full of scrambled eggs and a stack of pancakes in front of him.

Before she even gave him chopsticks, the meal was down his throat and in his stomach. Bankotsu yawned hugely, and rubbed at his sleep-filled eyes with large fists, making Kagome giggle. He looked like a little boy who just rolled out of bed when he did that.

'_See? Bankotsu's not so bad. Nope, that was all left behind him when he went to college. Just like me! Wait… he did go to college, right?_' Mulling over her confused thoughts she didn't notice him stand up, clear his plate, and mumble something about taking a shower before walking down the hall towards the bathroom until it was too late. She ran after him, yelling some incoherent phrases that shouldn't be repeated, only to have the door slam in her face and the sound of the water running echo in her ears.

Foiled again by sweet, innocent _Ban-chan_.

_4:22 PM, Friday, June Twenty-Seventh. (Taishou Manor)_

She was grateful for the fact that Sesshomaru had given her the few days Bankotsu was in town off. Although, she would only work for him for one summer, and he was nice enough to give her the break. In her mind, though, she didn't deserve it, after all she had put him through. So Kagome did her best to come over and watch Rin for him, and not put the servants through the ten-year-old's terror.

Even if it meant that there would be that the twelve hours spent until Sesshomaru got home were watching movies. Just like her first day.

"Psst…" Bankotsu whispered at her behind his hand. Rin sat on her lap, absorbed in the movie, which looked to be something or other about a dog and a cat, and currently the cat was floating downstream in a wooden box… you know the rest.

"What?" She whispered back fiercely. She wanted to know what happened to that cat!

"What the hell are we doing here?" He whispered just as fiercely.

"Baby-sitting Rin!"

"She's old enough to take care of herself."

"She's only ten!"

"When I was ten, I was already a father!"

"WHAT!" Kagome screamed, and Rin turned to look at her. Her face turned red as she saw the amusement hidden in Bankotsu's eyes.

"Ooooh! You… why I oughta…" She punched his arm, making him wince. For an 'innocent' girl, she sure had a good arm on her.

"But really. It's so boring. I don't give a shit about a stupid dog in a box."

"It's a cat."

"Whatever!"

"Well, unlike you, Bankotsu, I have responsibilities!" Kagome was very angry now. Sure, they had a past together, where it was filled with the pair partying and going crazy, but it was different now. They were grown up.

Or, at least she was.

_10:47 PM, Friday, June Twenty-Seventh. (Taishou Corporation)_

Just the thought of Kagome and _him_, spending a night together, in a condo, all alone had irked him all day.

Of course, he had more trust in Kagome like that.

She would never betray him!

But it was still enough for him to do something drastic.

Something he did best.

After work was done for the day, Sesshomaru drove off into the night.

Not towards home.

Towards the bar.

_12:31 AM, Saturday, June Twenty-Eighth. (Taishou Manor)_

Bankotsu had stormed off hours ago. Right after she had cut of the conversation with that last comment, he had jumped up and left with a "I'm Out-a Here.". Not that she cared. Much.

"Is Sesshomaru coming back soon?" Kagome asked the younger girl, knowing that Rin of all people would know when he was coming back.

"Soon… he always comes back soon…" She yawned, her small mouth opening widely and showing off all her pearly whites.

"Okay Rin, it's time for bed."

"But I wanted to say goodnight to Sesshomaru before I go… to sleep…" Rin's chocolate brown eyes were already drifting shut.

"How about I stay here and say it when he comes home. Just for you." Kagome added, making the younger girl smile and snuggle deeper into the older one's embrace as Kagome lifted her up.

"Alright… G'night, Kagome… love… you…" Before Kagome could respond, the little girl was out for the count was a bad case of tiredness.

"Night, Rin-chan. Love you too…" She brought the child up to her bedroom, treading carefully through the stuffed-animal covered floor, and set her on the bed. Kagome kissed the young girl's forehead after tucking her underneath the covers. So wrapped up in the moment, she did not notice the slam of the front door until the perpetrator stomped down the hall and into his room.

'_Aw… a few more seconds awake and Rin would've been able to say goodnight. Oh well, I'll just do it for her I guess. Like I said I would._' Cautiously Kagome tip-toed to Sesshomaru's room, making not a sound.

"Sesshomaru?" She called quietly and tentatively as she peeked into the room. Only to see the offending man struggling to pull his work shirt off, over his head. Kagome stepped up and touched his arm, a sign of offering to help him. He turned around, his golden eyes flashing, and she gasped and took a large step back. How had she not noticed before?

He reeked of alcohol.

* * *

I am sorry if you are unsatisfied with the last chapter. I would just like to make it clear that KAGOME IS NOT PERFECT. I hate stories like that. So what if she has a bad past? Sorry if I made her not 'up to your standards'. Then don't read the story. Because I'm not going to change it.

Anyways… Sorry for that… Yeah. But please, no flames. I can barely stand constructive criticism. Check out my profile if you have the time please!

**Also, I am sorry about Sounga. Actually, I've never even heard of it before. EEEK! So, if someone would be so gracious as to send me some information about it and possibly a picture? If so, I will um… discuss the secrets of the story with whoever does! **

Thanks, Please review! (Sorry for the long author's note) Love, CcB.

Later.


	13. The Hangover

One Last Summer

Chapter Thirteen

_1:56 PM, Sunday, June Thirtieth. (Taishou Manor)_

Slowly, golden streaks peeked out from underneath heavily lidded eyes. Sunlight streaked in through the nicely curtained windows, and burned at the man's eyes until he was forced to screw them shut with a grunt. He tested his body strength by lifting an arm, only to find it excruciatingly tiring.

'_What… what happened?_' His muggy voice echoed through the cavern of darkness better known as his mind.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." A soft voice spoke from above him, and if he had had enough strength to move, he would've found himself staring into caring, chocolate brown eyes.

"Ugh…" Was his only reply, since it hurt his throat to speak.

"Shh… don't speak, Sesshomaru. It'll hurt like hell." Kagome whispered, careful not to speak so loudly that it would hurt his ears.

She then left for a few moments after tucking him into his wonderfully comfortable sheets – made of pure silk, for his enjoyment – and walked down to the kitchen to get water. She questioned herself why she had actually walked down three hallways and a huge staircase to get water, when she could've gotten it from the bathroom in Sesshomaru's room, and decided that it was just because of the man she was serving.

How she hated that word.

'_I am no one's servant!_' Her rebellious side cried, making her giggle aloud and turn a pretty shade of pink. If you like pink, that is.

Sighing, Kagome quickly grabbed a cup from a cupboard and filled it with water, slipping a dissolvable vitamin into it before traveling back through the three hallways and up the stairs. She set the cup down on the nightstand, before reaching over and closing the windows.

"Drink it." Was all she said, bringing the cup to his lips and elevating his head.

He did so.

It only took a few moments before he drifted off to sleep again in the comfortable tangle of blankets that swathed him, courtesy of the vitamin she had slipped into his drink. What? It wasn't like she had much experience in that category… right?

_2:03 PM, Sunday, June Thirtieth. (Taishou Manor)_

"Come on, InuYasha! Put some force into it!" Kagome cried, already lifting her part.

"Oh shut up! You've got the easy part, and not his huge head!" The offending man yelled back, trying to get a good grip on Sesshomaru's shoulders.

They were trying to lift the hugely tall man with long, gorgeous hair, bringing him over to the bathroom where – hopefully – the hot water would sober him up. Along the long trip of carrying Sesshomaru from his bed to his bathroom, which was a long way if you think how big his bedroom is, InuYasha had already dropped his half of Sesshomaru. Thrice.

"Finally!" InuYasha wheezed as they tossed Sesshomaru into the large tub, with a resound 'THUNK' as their answer. Kagome made InuYasha strip his older brother of his clothes, all except his boxers (to the reviewers' disappointment) as they turned on the hot water.

At first, as the searing liquid made its way out of the faucet, and into the bottom of the bathtub, wetting Sesshomaru's hair, boxers, and back, it did nothing to wake him. That is, it didn't do anything to wake him until the jets were turned on, and hot water shot out from every different possible angle, and covered the poor, hung over man, assaulting him until he sputtered with lack of breath.

"Wh-what?" The man's golden eyes slit open to gaze up at two blurry figures – one with the bright, red colors that signified his as InuYasha, and the other with paler, more considerable colors and long, wavy black hair, to be known as Kagome. They wavered for a moment, seemingly splitting into two and then combining back into one, before his eyes finally focused.

Turning the water off, and draining it, they took Sesshomaru out of the tub and wrapped him in a towel. Now that he was awake, and although he was shivering, the brought him down to the kitchen so the bright lights could knock some sense into him.

_5:36 PM, Sunday, June Thirtieth. (Taishou Manor)_

Brown orbs stared into groggy, golden ones as they sat across the table from one another. While the brown-eyed girl fiddled with her fingers and played with the hem of her knee-length, black skirt, the man with the golden eyes, bothering trying to stay awake and upright, as his body had threatened to fall to the floor in a heap. His eyes closed, and he tilted forward, but suddenly snapped back up.

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome's voice rang out through his struggle, and he snapped his attention on her face. Or, at least, he tried to.

He mumbled something what he though was a "Hn.", when it more came out as a "Shn."

"Are… are you feeling better?" She asked finally, the question ringing in his ears.

Better? _Better_? This was the worst he had ever felt in his whole entire life, and she had questioned _The_ Sesshomaru, if he felt _better_!

Bringing his hazy eyes up to her face, he decided to only focus on one of her eyes to make it easier for him, and stared right at her left eye. Of course, with his gaze messed up with everything that had occurred within the last two days, it looked as if he was glancing over her left shoulder, instead of at her eye.

Quickly she snuck a glance over her shoulder, and then turned back to him. His golden orbs clearly said the words he was thinking, and there was no need for a vocal conversation that included five minutes of stating how stupid that question was. Kagome pouted at that thought, and crossed her arms over her chest.

'_Well, I wouldn't be talking. I wasn't the one who had been clutching the toilet the other night, holding on for dear life as my guts were thrown up… repeatedly._' She wanted to say, take advantage of his disgruntled state, and shove it in his face.

"I… I-Rin wants to see you." She ended up saying, her old thoughts left in the back of her throat.

"Shn."

_8:43 PM, Sunday, June Thirtieth. (Miroku's Apartment)_

Tossing and turning in the unfamiliar bed, Kagome finally took notice of how much the right side of the bed smelled so much like Sango. She expected the whole apartment to smell like Miroku, since, after all, it was his apartment, but it had more of Sango's special, unique flowery scent than anything. Of course, she should have expected such, since they couldn't do anything at the girls' apartment, it was done here at Miroku's.

They had been kind enough to give up Miroku's apartment for Kagome to use for a few days, since she wasn't willing to stay too long at Sesshomaru's anymore. Since Kikyo partially moved into the Taishou Manor with InuYasha, Sango and Miroku would have the whole of the girls' apartment to themselves.

'_I wonder what they'd do?_' She thought sarcastically, a mental image of herself rolling her eyes, appearing in her mind.

Sighing, she tried to relax in the heaping mass of blankets, preparing her mind for a long night of sleep. It was something she truly needed, after all that had occurred over the weekend. All she really wanted was to fall into a deep sleep, refresh her mind, sink into the pile of blankets that adorned Miroku's bed. Maybe just to never wake up again. She sure felt like that, at least.

Her last thought rung through her head before her body became limp, and a bit of drool dripped out of the corner of her mouth after a few minutes.

'_I hope this bed is clean…_'

_9:23 PM, Sunday, June Thirtieth. (Taishou Manor)_

Chest rising with each inhalation, and falling with each exhalation, Sesshomaru finally allowed his eyes to droop shut. His large hands clutched the silky sheets in clenched fists, tightening over each frustrating thought that came across his troubled mind. All he saw was visions, visions of her, flashing back from his unconscious times, and form the times he was conscious, but puking up the remains of his liver.

o0o

Shh… Stop struggling._' She whispered into his ear as he grasped the edge of the toilet, trying to make her back away by swinging a hand, once released from the toilet, in her direction. Kagome seemed to be having a hard time with pulling his hair back for him._

_The silky strands were just so long, so fine, and just so hard to pull back into a ponytail. One shorter strand had already managed to find its way into the toilet, and she rapidly swiped at it with a wet washcloth, trying to get the vomit out. How one single man could consume so much, and vomit it back up in two days? It was as if he had eaten a whole feast, and then eaten another one, and then went out drinking and was here now._

_Kagome sighed, and resumed her struggle with Sesshomaru and his precious hair. He was currently gasping for breath, a bit of throw-up dribbling down his bottom lip, while leaning over the toilet. His eyes were scrunched up in concentration, or what seemed to be. It was most likely extreme pain, really, since what little of hangovers Kagome knew from, she always had a horrible headache._

_If Sesshomaru had consumed much more alcohol then she ever had, he must be having a KILLER headache._

_When his gasping subsided for five minutes, and his stomach seemed not to be holding any more fluids or solids to vomit up, Kagome silently led Sesshomaru back to his comfortable bed. The springs were silent under his weight as she slowly lifted his long legs onto the bed, until he was in a lying position. She tucked the heavy sheets in, and wiped the last of the vomit out of his hair before putting a clean, cold washcloth on his forehead._

_Cautiously sitting on the edge of the bed, Kagome suddenly realized how high up the bed really was. When she sat on the edge, her feet just barely reached the ground, because of all the padding. Sure, it was perfect for Sesshomaru, him being six feet something and everything, but what about Rin? Didn't she ever have a hard time jumping up there?_

_There was no point in thinking about that. The great matter here was how to get Sesshomaru as comfortable as possible in this kind of position he was in. She still didn't exactly know what made him commit his act, but her assumptions led her to Bankotsu being around. Sure, he was a nice friend back in the day, when Kagome was a 'bad' girl, but things changed._

_She matured._

_She changed._

_Bankotsu didn't._

Goodnight, Sesshomaru. Get well soon, and we can talk._' She spoke softly while giving his bangs one last stroke, before exiting his bedroom. His amber eyes gleamed under his heavy eyelids, and watched her wavering figure as it left. _

o0o

'_How can she be so kind to me? She's only been working for me for a month, yet she cares for me as if I was a friend…_' To speak the truth, he would not do that for her. If he had known her as well as he knew her no, they would most likely not even converse much. No, the only one he would tend to himself would be Rin, but even that was highly unlikely. Not that he wouldn't, just that it wasn't likely that she would get sick.

Either way, he had some things to say to her. Apologize maybe? No, definitely not something THIS Sesshomaru would do. Pay her back? How could one pay someone back something, if all that was exchanged was tender care and possibly even… dare he say it, love? Love for a child that was alone in the world, but needed someone to care for him?

No. He was not a child. He could care for himself…

Then end up hurting Rin. Again.

It was a reason Jaken had taken a break, because the summer months were the worst. No one ever really bothered to keep track of their days off, so when he really needed them to work most, they weren't there.

He would be covered in thick layers of anxiety, distress of all kinds.

That would lead to him staying late at work, fixing up all the work the workers that had left neglected to assign to someone else. Which would then lead to him just 'happening' upon a bar on the way home, and staying there even later. Which would finally lead to him getting drunk, and coming home and hurting someone.

Oh, how painful it was for him to wake up. When he even did. After a long night of drinking, like the recent one, Sesshomaru would only awaken once or twice throughout the whole experience to vomit. Usually these 'experiences' lasted about two and a half days or so, until he finally recovered.

This time, though, he had made a huge mistake.

One that could not be reversed, do to that fact that this one _special_ person knew about his drinking problem, now…

Not Rin, she already knew…

Not Kagome, who he trusted enough to not dawdle in others' business…

Not Jaken, nor the other house workers…

_InuYasha_.

_7:05 AM, Monday, July First. (Taishou Manor)_

The wondrous smells of breakfast drifted up the large staircase, down the hall, and into Rin's room. Her small nose sniffed the air around her, and her large brown orbs peeked out from under eyelids that were heavy with sleep. It was a smell she had not smelled in what seemed like forever, one that she had greatly missed from before she was orphaned.

The aroma lifted her out of bed, and sent her little feet padding down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where a place was set specifically for her. Actually, there were four places set up at the kitchen table, but she knew by the brightly colored piece of paper folded in the shape of a crane that the one place was hers.

_This place is reserved for Rin._

Next to her another one said:

_This place is reserved for Sesshomaru._

The ones across from her and Sesshomaru's said the same things, except for the name was changed to Kikyo, and one for InuYasha.

Rubbing her eyes with fisted hands, Rin looked around the large kitchen, to see Kagome leaning against the wall near the stove, spatula at hand. A large, white, puffy hat adorned the top of her head, and splotches of white flower decorated her cheeks.

Kagome grinned a large, brilliant smile when she saw Rin enter the room, and immediately straightened up from her position slouching against the wall. The young girl sauntered up to her, trying to look over her shoulder and onto the stove, to see what they were having for breakfast.

"Ah, ah, ah, Rin-chan. No peaking until everyone is sitting at the table." Rin quickly ran back up the stairs and proceeded to jump on beads and wake everyone up for breakfast.

She first went to find InuYasha and Kikyo, and strangely enough in her mind, they were sleeping in the same bed. She thought that only Mommies and Daddies did that, and as far as she knew… InuYasha and Kikyo were far from parents. Strange… but one learns something new everyday, now don't they.

They were surprised to see her alright, but were decent enough to say that they'd be downstairs in ten minutes. Well, at least, Kikyo was. InuYasha more grumbled and smothered his face with a pillow, than responded. Rin hopped happily away and down the hallway the other direction, towards Sesshomaru's room.

'_The best for last_,' her mind whispered.

Silently slipping into the room through the slightly opened door, the young girl tiptoed on the soft carpet on her way closer to Sesshomaru's bed. She could not tell if he was asleep or awake, for his breathing was always very shallow, but as she crept closer, she noted that his eyes were closed.

Rin knew that she could not pounce on his bed like she usually did, like she had in InuYasha's room. Sesshomaru had been sick lately, and she didn't want to do anything that might upset or hurt him. So instead she quietly crawled up the end of the bed to the empty spot next to him, as he only took up a small amount of the bed; the right. No matter what, he was always on the right.

Lying down next to Sesshomaru, Rin watched him for a moment, before deciding it was just better to leave him. He didn't have to leave for work for at least another hour today, so he could have half an hour more to sleep. Dejectedly, she hopped off the bed and walked towards the door, but a musky voice stopped her.

"Rin… I'll be down in a moment." He said, and Rin nodded, and skipped down the hall happily.

_7:17 AM, Monday, July First. (Taishou Manor)_

Finally, when everyone was thoroughly awake and sitting down at his or her correct spots at the table, Kagome served them. Flat bread cakes with a thick, sweet, brown paste, and fruit on the side. A glass of milk for each of them, just to keep their bones healthy and strong, and a piece of toasted bread for each.

"A healthy American breakfast my mother taught me to make, a nice transition from the regular the cook always makes." She smiled brightly, and wiped her hands on her apron that read, "Kiss the Cook" in large red letters. InuYasha smirked.

"You might want to hurry and take that off, or I might just be tempted to follow that order, Kagome." She blushed and quickly untied it, sharing a laugh, as Kikyo slapped her boyfriend and Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. Rin didn't care, as long as nothing broke up the great breakfast they were about to share.

"Oh come one, dig in already! I'm not _that_ bad of a cook, when it comes to some things!" Kagome smiled as she watched them each take a tentative bite, and then grinned when they all went diving back for more. Yet Rin saw something that alarmed her.

"Kagome-chan, why aren't you eating with us?" She asked, and stared the older girl down.

"I'm fine Rin, I had enough fun testing out the first of the batch…"

"Sit down then?"

"I'm fine –"

"I insist, Kagome-chan." Rin stated, without room for argument. She patted the seat of the chair next to her, which 'strangely' enough, had room for one more person. Kagome smiled a small smile, and sat down, and soon enough joined in the conversation the group was having about Miroku.

While InuYasha protested, and tried to defend his best friend, the two older girls got him with 'sexist pigs' comments and how 'men are selfish dogs'. InuYasha replied thoroughly with an excruciatingly loud "WOOF!"

Sesshomaru watched, seemingly uninterested, as his golden eyes gazed over each and every person, catching each detail.

Rin glanced at each person as well, but Kagome caught her eye. A smile appeared on the young girl's face, as the wondrous memories came soaring back…

'_Mommy…_'

* * *

So… long time no see? I am really sorry, but a lot has happened! I _thought_ that I had gotten writers block, when I realized that I had lost interest! Then I realized that I hadn't lost interest, and that I was just completely lazy!

Yeah, there's me for you. You might have to wait a while for the next chapter, but I promise that you guys will get it… sometime or another…

Thank you so much, I love the feedback!

Please keep reviewing, Love, CcB.


	14. The Meeting

One Last Summer

Chapter Fourteen

_7:28 PM, Friday, July Fifth. (Tomoshibi oite sono mizu)_

"Where's _Ban_-chan?" Sesshomaru asked snidely, his question sounding more like a demand. Across from him, Kagome snapped her head up from what appeared to be a _very_ interesting plate of food.

"Hm? Oh, Bankotsu. He left." She spoke as if it meant nothing to her. Maybe it didn't? The thought brought a small smile to the mental image of himself, deep in his mind. The image that had emotions. Or, at least, showed them a bit better than Sesshomaru.

"I thought you two were the best of friends."

"Pfft… as if. He's… just someone I used to know, now. We were friends, but people change. Some don't." She replied easily, and went back to poking at her meal.

The two sat in silence for the last moments of their meal, until Rin came rushing back from the fish pond in the front of the restaurant. Although she claimed to do nothing but look and point, and stand securely on the bridge that separated the diners from the pond, her hands and the hem of her yellow sundress were suspiciously wet.

_2:21 AM, Saturday, July Sixth. (Miroku's Apartment)_

It seemed that she could never get comfortable in this bed. Pulling her legs closer to her, Kagome wrapped her arms around her knees in her sideways position on Sango and Miroku's bed. First it was too hot. She rapidly tore the blankets off of her, but the quick assault of cool air made her scramble to pull them back up. The mattress made too much noise, the pillow suffocated her, and someone, somewhere else in the apartment building was blasting music.

Not that she minded; it was good music.

The week had flown past in what seemed like a mad dash to forget the past, and to start anew. Sesshomaru rarely came home before eight each day, and when he did, Rin was just barely awake. Sure, the ten-year-old _was_ ten years old, but for all the running she did all day long, it sure tired her out before nine, her bed time.

He would leave for work early, and would return late, only stopping to exchange greetings with the help, and Rin. Never would she catch him looking her way, although, strangely enough, she felt a longing. Sure, he never exactly made conversations with her so often, but they had talked. She had met his eyes, and laughed.

Only six hours ago, he had returned home from work, and found Rin and herself playing out back, where a huge swing set was placed. The two enjoyed the time they got to spend outside. Maybe there would be time to go to the park tomorrow… er, today.

He took them out to dinner, as he usually did on Fridays and Sundays, and as always, Rin had left the table to go view the fish. There was always fish.

_10:18 AM, Saturday, July Seventh. (Taishou Manor)_

Sitting at the island counter in the kitchen as they usually did, the two girls watched, sipping their milk and biting into a cookie, as the day started. Servants rushed around, InuYasha repeatedly walked in and out of the kitchen, grabbing more food each time, and Sesshomaru shuffled his business papers.

"Where are you going today, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin asked quietly. She had hoped that today the three of them, possibly even the terrible trio, could spend the day together.

"Meeting. There will be no trip to the beach today. We will save that for tomorrow." He replied without looking up from his papers. Golden eyes flicked back and forth between the lines on the paper, and narrowed every once in a while.

"Can Kagome-chan and I go to the park?" The young girl tried, and got a nod in response.

"Uh… Rin, I don't have a car to get you there…" It was true. On Tuesday, Kikyo had borrowed the car to bring herself down town for her job, and, as luck had it, broken it. The car was now in the shop, and had been for the last four days.

Kagome had to scramble to contain herself as a pair of keys was thrown her way. She looked up at Sesshomaru, only to find him walking out the door, briefcase at hand. '_Is… is he serious! I mean, he knows me well enough, but that's the problem! I can hardly drive any better than Souta can! And He's only eleven!_'

The girl cherished the set of keys in her hands, as she watched the silver-haired man disappear out the front door. Rin, meanwhile, had been cheering at the chance to go to the park, and hopped off the stool to call up the boys. It only took a matter of seconds for them to be convinced that everyone needed a day at the park! Especially with Kagome as the chaperone…

_12:54 PM, Saturday, July Seventh. (Taishou Manor)_

It wasn't the fact that the boys lived far away from the mansion that had taken so long. It was the fact that Sesshomaru had left Kagome with a set of keys. To which car, it took almost half an hour to figure out.

"It's this one!" Kohaku pointed to a small, shiny silver one.

"No, that one doesn't look old enough for this key! It must go to this one!" Souta ran up to another small car, but this one a vibrant red.

"Boys…"

"You guys have it all wrong. It goes to this one!" Shippou shouted at the top of his lungs, all the way across the room. He pointed to a gigantic, black monstrosity that barely seemed to fit in the garage. Both boys 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the sight, and ran up to run their fingers along its shiny surface.

"Boys…"

"I know! Maybe it goes to the motorcycle!"

"Now why would he leave keys to that?"

"Yeah, we all know Kagome would fall off it, the second she got on."

"Well then the keys are probably for the one next to it!" The group then ran off to observe and poke another car, this one another small one, but sleeker and faster looking than all the rest. It was a plain black, but so clean that every single inch of it shimmered.

"Boys…"

"Or maybe it goes to that –"

"BOYS!" The three gulped, and looked over the where Rin and Kagome were waiting next to the sleek, and fast looking car. In Kagome's hands were the keys, dangling from her fingers as she leaned against the side of it.

"I told you the keys were for that one…"

_1:24 PM, Saturday, July Seventh. (Meiru Park)_

Parking the car, Kagome celebrated her successful drive to the park, with one nice child, and three twerps singing along to the radio. Quite loudly. The four kids hopped out of the car and ran off towards the park, while Kagome groaned and followed behind them.

"Don't get lost!" She yelled at them, as they all sped off in different directions, and different corners of the park.

Kagome maneuvered her way through the playground, and sat on a secluded bench, under a blossoming tree. Sighing in relaxation, she took a good look around the park. After a few moments, the girl began to notice that something seemed a bit peculiar for a park, in the middle of the day, during the summer…

There were no _people_ in the park, besides the five of them…

Come to think of it, she couldn't hear any sounds of birds chirping, animals playing, or any other noise. All that was heard was the sounds of the four playing, and the whispers of the trees as their branches danced in the wind. Far off in the distance, the clangs and crashes, and screeches of tires on pavement could still be heard, since the North end of the park was next to a busy street.

It was like the park had been vacated, by all life, except for that growing out of the ground. Kagome briefly glanced at the monkey bars, where Rin had been playing moments before, only to find the young girl missing.

She glanced at the jungle gym, for Souta.

The slide, for Kohaku.

The swings, for Shippou.

None of them were anywhere. '_Maybe they're just playing hide and seek? Yeah, it's probably just a game; a trick they're playing on me._' The thoughts would have gone on, gullible and peaceful, if it had not been for a piercing scream that rang through the air.

'_RIN!_'

Kagome jumped up from her seat, running towards the other end of the park, where she had last heard the scream come from. Just as she reached the shrubbery, though, a sharp pain struck the back of her head, and Kagome's world went black.

_2:44 PM, Saturday, July Seventh. (Taishou Corp.)_

Sesshomaru sat patiently and quietly at his seat on the right of the head of the long conference table. The head of the table was reserved for whoever owned the company the conference was being held at, while the right was for his heir, and the left was for his greatest valued business partner or competitor.

Currently, the only one missing was the seat across from his; the greatest valued client and competitor. A loud clang of doors alerted the members already at the conference table that the last of the group had arrived, and they all quickly took their seats; as to not look like a fool.

"I apologize for my lateness. I was… caught up in other matters." Naraku spoke smoothly and confidently, and took his seat across from Sesshomaru. Cold golden eyes met smirking ruby ones, as they set of into a staring fest that only the sound of Mr. Taishou clearing his throat broke.

"Yes… well, welcome, Mr. Onigumo." The elder Taishou straightened in his seat, and began to announce the newcomers to the alleged conference table.

Sesshomaru glared at Naraku from his seat across the table, and spoke in a harsh, but hushed whisper.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Onigumo."

"My pleasure, _Sesshomaru_." Naraku answered back snidely, smirking at the younger Taishou. Sesshomaru, although he did not look it, was only a few years junior to the man seated opposite as him, and Naraku knew it as well. He used the advantage to rub it in his face of the three years more of experience that he held, stating that Sesshomaru needed a partner to show him the ropes when he took over his father's business.

"Well now. We have some matters to address. Starting with my retirement." Mr. Taishou stated, cutting off all conversation between the two.

"As you all know, my son, Sesshomaru Taishou, is my heir. He shall inherit the family company, and all of the programs Taishou Corp is associated with. Including The Tetsusaiga Corporation, The Tensaiga Corporation, what little I own of The Tokijin Corporation, and… The Sounga Corporation." Almost everyone, with the exception of a selected few, gasped at the last announcement.

"But sir… Mr. Taishou, Sounga Corp is closed… bankrupt… _illegal_." A random business competitor spoke up. Others protested, but Mr. Taishou silenced them all with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Yes… originally Sounga Corp was illegal… but with the right authorization, and endorsement, I believe my heir can make it work." Sesshomaru looked up at his father with a dark look scribble on his face.

'_Father… what are you getting me into this time…_'

"Mr. Taishou, not to be rude, but I object to some of your decisions." Of course, Onigumo Naraku had to be there to object to _something_.

"Oh? And what may your objections be?"

"Well, first, if I may inquire." Sesshomaru glanced at Naraku, his normally impassive face now tinted with worry. Sure, Naraku always had a problem with an announcement, that usually turned out to his benefit, but this time is had to do with the associations that Taishou Corp owned.

"Go ahead." His father was always one to listen to others' points of view.

"Is it true the Higurashi Kagome is the last living heir to the Associations?" Naraku asked, standing up and walking over to the screen on the wall that Mr. Taishou was already standing at. Up on the board was a diagram of Taishou, Tetsusaiga, Tensaiga, Tokijin, and Sounga Corp.

"Yes, it is –"

"Well then, isn't it true that now, since she is of age, Higurashi Kagome owns at least one fourth of Tetsusaiga, Tensaiga, and Tokijin? And the majority of Sounga?"

"Yes. Mr. Onigumo, where are you going with –"

"Then it must be true that the spouse of Higurashi Kagome, if she were to marry, would inherit her share of the Corporations –"

"MR. ONIGUMO. I think you have gone far enough. DO NOT drag Higurashi Kagome into this conflict anymore, or I will be forced to ask you to leave." Sesshomaru stated in a cold, chilling voice that scared half of the occupants of the room. Now standing up, he was able to see the looks on all of their faces, which was mainly surprise.

"Have I struck a nerve, Sesshomaru? After all, are you not her superior?" Of course he knew about Kagome working as Rin's babysitter. Somehow, Naraku knew everything.

"Shut your vile mouth, Naraku."

"Both of you! Sit down and act like refined gentlemen, Kami knows you two need to be told." Mr. Taishou muttered the last part under his breath, although he knew that they both heard him.

"Now, back to our pressing matters…"

_4:17 PM, Saturday, July Seventh. (Taishou Corp.)_

"What." Sesshomaru demanded of InuYasha as the younger man stood in front of him.

"Gosh, and to think all I did was stop by to say hello…" InuYasha replied, wiping fake tears from his eyes. He turned around, still sobbing, and was almost out the door when he heard Sesshomaru call him back.

"InuYasha. What is it you're here for." However feminine it was, InuYasha took the moment to skip back to his elder brother's desk, leaning over and smirking. He plopped himself down in a comfy leather chair, and propped his feet up on top of Sesshomaru's desk, toppling over the golden trimmed name plate that read '_Sesshomaru Taishou, Vice President_' in thick, curvy letters.

"Seriously now. I've come to talk about what happened last weekend…" Internally, Sesshomaru groaned. He knew that InuYasha would come to talk about this soon, or he would have spoken with their father.

"There is nothing to speak about, Inu –" He started, but was cut off as the youth slammed a fist down on his mahogany desk.

"Cut the crap Sesshomaru. What were you thinking? You could have hurt someone. You could have hurt your_self_." Golden eyes penetrated its twins as strikes of electricity struck between them.

"You know nothing, InuYasha." Sesshomaru returned to filing his papers, and pondering over Naraku's words. He had much to think about, and didn't have time for InuYasha right now.

"I know nothing? Oh, I know a lot more than you think. Do you know how easily Jaken spills information, when he is tickled enough?" The man's fingers stopped racing through the pages as this shocking information hit him.

"Jaken…"

"So toady took the summer off because of your drinking problem, eh? That's what you have, isn't it, Sesshomaru? A DRINKING problem?" InuYasha grabbed a yellow stress ball on Sesshomaru's desk, and began to rip it to shreds with his nails.

"I do not have a drinking problem. I have a stress problem." He said, snatching back the yellow ball, opening a drawer, and shoving it in there.

"What were you doing that night?" He inquired of the elder man, his bangs covering his amber eyes.

"I was stressed. I went out for a few drinks before I returned home. That is all." Sesshomaru replied, swiveling around in his chair until he was facing the open window. He pretended to be searching for something in his file cabinet, while in reality he felt guilty. Too guilty to even face his own brother. _Step_-brother, but a brother, nonetheless.

"Goddamnit, Sesshomaru! Turn around and face me, tell me eye-to-eye that you do _not_ have a drinking problem." Sesshomaru slowly turned around. The two stood up, and prepared to face off. It was troubling. He seemed to be having an easy time looking everywhere _but_ the offending youth's eyes, but finally they met.

"I do not have a drinking –" For the last time, Sesshomaru Taishou was cut off as someone ran into the room. That one person better known as Kouga, heir to the Ookami Industries.

"Kagome, Rin, and the terrible trio have gone missing from the park today."

_11:20 PM, Saturday, July Seventh. (Unknown Region)_

Slowly, chocolate brown eyes blinked open as rays of moonlight shone down upon her. The owner of the eyes tried to reach up and wipe the sleep out of her brilliant orbs, but found it was difficult, as her hands were bound, and cuffed behind her. Her legs were bound as well, she soon figured out, when she tried to stand, but found that she could only wiggle up high enough that it hurt when she fell over.

Kagome's eyes jerked open in panic as she finally decided to take in her surroundings. Grey, cement walls, and a barred window to her left. Straight in front of her was a large door, that blended into the wall's grey coloring, but from the start she knew it was locked. Maybe it was the fact that she was tied and cuffed to a pole, or that there was a large lock on the door, or maybe the fact that she could hear the sounds of keys jingling as someone on the other side of the door unlocked it.

The girl screamed in terror as two large men came at her with knives, and cowered as they came closer. She could feel their footsteps stop as they were right before her, and crouched down.

One of the men held his knife out, and Kagome prepared for the worst… only to hear him cut the binds on her wrists. Next they cut the binds on her legs. There was no used for them, anyways, if her hands were cuffed to a large metal pole. She slit open one eye, and gazed at the men before her. They were huge, and husky, and could probably kill her with one hand, if they decided to snap her spine.

"Kukuku… look what we caught today. Leave." A new voice from the doorway issued, and the men hurried to get out of their master's way.

"Higurashi Kagome, what a surprise it is to see you here." Onigumo Naraku spoke to her, where he stood only a foot away. He let the door slam behind him, and as if he willed it to, it locked.

His red eyes gleamed in the moonlight the streaked through the barred window, however small it was, and she took the sight of him in. He wore dress pants and a dark dress shirt, while his suit coat was slung over his arm. His long hair was tied back, but a short lock of it was pulled out to frame his face.

"Naraku! Why have you brought me here?" Kagome spat, jumping to her defenses as well as she could.

"Oh, quite contraire, my dear. It is not I that have brought you here, but my dear helpers… and look at that? They've brought me more gifts." His last statement was brought on as the door was unlocked and pushed open by the same two men, but this time they threw in four small bundles.

Their muffled voices rang through the binds, as they wiggled and squirmed, and willed their ways out of the ties they were caught up in. Kagome gasped, and tried to reach out to the bundles, to once again realize that she was cuffed to a pole.

"Rin! Souta! Kohaku! Shippou! What have you done with them? If you or any of your little friends have touched a _hair_ on their heads, I will kill you myself!" Kagome growled maliciously, but Naraku only chuckled once again.

"Oh no, my dear. You wouldn't want to harm your future _husband_ now, would you?" Naraku left then, still laughing, while leaving Kagome, tied to a metal pole, to untie the children before they ran out of oxygen.

* * *

Well now. There's your chapter fourteen, folks, if you'll take it. I really didn't enjoy typing up this chapter, and I think it is a bit rushed, but the story needed some plot, because all the rest of the chapters were fillers. The next few

chapters might take a bit longer, since I had a dull time typing up this one.

Please keep up the reviews, Love, Cat.


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